


Brand New Dinobot

by ZettonLives



Category: BNA: Brand New Animal (Anime), The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Comedy, Crossover, F/M, Grimlock being stubborn and cute, Hurt/Comfort, Interspecies Relationship(s), Shirou struggles to hold onto his sanity, The Dinobots refuse to go with the flow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23470153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZettonLives/pseuds/ZettonLives
Summary: It all started when Grimlock was mysteriously sent to another world where the humans are jerks and he's safer in a city where a bunch of strong animal people reside. All he can do is search for his fellow Dinobots, fight foes old/new, get into a one-sided rivalry with a seemingly immortal wolf-man, and become the best of pals with a certain Tanuki girl.No pressure for that simple brain of his, right?
Relationships: Hiwatashi Nazuna/Kagemori Michiru (one-sided), Kagemori Michiru & Ogami Shirou, Kagemori Michiru/Grimlock
Comments: 12
Kudos: 18





	1. Grimlock in the Big Smashin' City

**_Some random human city..._ **

Afternoon. Cloudy skies and a slight breeze. Nothing much else to say. It was a perfect day, but, for the humans that lived in it, it was mostly one where some groaned and others made a break for the nearest shop filled with angry mob supplies. For it was the 10th anniversary of the creation of a little place called Animacity. We're sure you know about the story regarding that development.

This is not about that city just yet. This is about the massive portal that opened up above one of the streets. The purple/white swirling portal expanded in size about the cityscape, grabbing the attention of plenty of civilians that either ran away or looked at it in surprise and wonder. After less than a minute, something fell out. Screaming down before hitting the ground with a THUD that resonated across the ground, this object appeared to be a large blocky piece of metal. 

Except when the thing stood up into as a humanoid hulking yellow/white robot. No description is really needed for us readers as to whom just arrived. "Ow! Me Grimlock hit head!" The Dinobot leader rubbed his cranium, his mono-optic taking in the new area around him. "Where am me Grimlock? One minute, with others in fishing pool. Next, in human city! Me Grimlock ask for directions!"

Now, the thing about the size of the Dinobots. They weren't titans per say, but they were still big as two-story houses plus a couple of feet, if that makes sense. Naturally, the first thing the humans did to the giant mech walking about was freak the heck out. Like herd of panicked zebras, they stampeded back into any buildings they could, shutting the doors tight and praying the alien creature that just landed wouldn't notice him. "Why humans running away? It just me Grimlock!" He exclaimed, raising his sword. "See? Even brought sword!"

"Dear God, it's got a weapon! SOMEBODY SHOOT IT!" A random citizen screamed. 

Grimlock continued to stand around and look confused before crossing his arms. "Hmph! If humans not gonna help, then me Grimlock help me Grimlock! Me genius! Deserve award." However, in the blink of an optic, he was surrounded by tanks, jets, helicopters, and army men. "Wow! Humans really fast! But why they pointing at-"

"ATTENTION TRESPASSER!" A general with a megaphone shouted. "State your identity and motives, then leave the premises immediately!"

When he heard that order, he stood proudly. "Me Grimlock! Me am Dinobot Me won't leave until you help me Grimlock find way home!" 

"Are you from another planet?"

"Nope! Me made on Earth!" Grimlock shook his head. "Me Dinobot!"

"Hey! Quit it with the questions!" Another citizen shouted out of a window. "No non-humans allowed! I bet he's with the beastmen! I can see those little monster arms sticking out of him! He's a spy! A really awful one at that!" The crowd began to jeer, pointing fingers at the guy who literally came out of the sky. Suffice to say, hate was their way of life, so why should logic matter?

Grimlock covered his ears, wanting to drown out the pretty hurtful things they were saying. "Augh! Shut up! Me Grimlock no have to take this! Me Grimlock just want to go home and play with friends!" The army stood by as he was then pelted with garbage and other debris. The final straw came when a rotten banana smashed against his mono-optic, blinding him briefly. "That's it! **TRANSFORM!** " He roared before shifting into his iconic and wildly inaccurate Tyrannosaurus form (the long articulate arms with more than two claws at the end should send dino-nerds like myself into a frenzy). 

He roared a mighty sound that caused the crowd to back off before he turned to the army, who's weapons were armed and ready again. "This is your last warning, beastman. Or beast-robot, as we'll classify you. In the name of the law, you are to retreat to Animacity or we will use lethal force."

Grimlock scoffed. "Hmph! Me Grimlock not scared of army guys. Bad humans puny!" He leaned into the general's face. "Me Grimlock won't ask again. WHERE. AM. HOME?"

Said general just bit down on the cigar he was chewing. "Not here, let me tell you...freak." He said that last part under his breath. 

"Me Grimlock heard that!" In anger, the Dinobot lunged forth, only to accidentally smash a tank. The occupant had gotten out of there, but the damage had been done. "Me Grimlock have snack!" He began to chew on the ruined vehicle, feeling slightly better now.

"Can you guys just shoot it?!" That same rabble-rouser shouted again before another civilian put a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, yeah. Maintain our image and all that crap."

After Grimlock had chewed up all he wanted, he stepped towards the north. "Me Grimlock getting nowhere. Head to different city. Maybe me Grimlock find nicer people!" Growling in irritation, he stomped away, knocking around some cars with his tail out of spite. 

Slowly, the General got out his phone. "Mr. President, we had a situation over here. I request we have some of our extra sets of eyes keep an eye out on...well, you won't believe me if I told you, but you'll definitely see it soon..."

_**Several hours later...** _

The sun was setting, shining brilliantly against the robotic Tyrannosaurus' metallic hide. However, as he walked through the forest, he let out a heavy vent. "Me Grimlock tired. Me Grimlock look everywhere, but humans so mean!" He hit the side of his head, causing a bunch of garbage and other junk to fall out of his audio receptors. "Bad humans weak. Could have at least given Grimlock challenge." 

As he walked further through the forest, he noticed something in the distance. A gleaming metropolis much like the human city before, but it looked slightly prettier and it was surrounded by a large body of water. "Hmmm...if first me Grimlock don't succeed...um...uh..." As he struggled to figure out what came next, he had pushed away several more trees, revealing a sight that caught his sight.

There was a group of humans that was lying in a collective heap, beaten up by the strangest creatures that he had ever laid optics on. They looked like animals that Grimlock knew about, except they all looked much bigger and stood on their hind legs. Based on their expressions, despite his stomping around, they didn't see him coming. "Don't...move...a muscle..." A hyena-man shivered. 

A silence followed that Grimlock gladly broke. "Hey! What going on? Why furry things look like that? You beat up bad humans?" He turned to the moaning pile. "Look like bad guys. Me Grimlock stomp into paste!" He raised a foot over the terrified humans.

"NO, wait!" One of the animal people, some raccoon girl (actually, Tanuki, as you know) about his age, got in the way. "They've had enough...whatever you are." She turned to the animal person that looked like a weasel. "Does talking to a random robotic dinosaur that could bite my head off convince you that I don't need to pay as much? I'm having a hard day as it is."

"Hmm...no!" Said weasel shrugged. "I can see it in his blue eyes. He's no threat, are you?" She suddenly moved up the Dinobot's leg, surprising him as she sat on his nose. "Then again, I just have to ask. Who and what are you?" 

"Ah! Get off me Grimlock's nose, weasel!" He shouted, attempting to shake her off until his head was feeling dizzy.

Amazingly, she managed to cling on. "Normally, I'd give you an earful for calling me such an undignified thing, but you don't appear to be the sharpest knife in the drawer." Her already smug smile (which was getting on the Dinobot's nerves) deepened. "You know...I couldn't help but notice that both you and the girl here were lost."

"How you guess?" Grimlock tilted his head. "Me Grimlock can't find home." He then turned to the Tanuki girl. "You lost too?"

She still looked shocked, but she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah. I, uh, think the Natural History Museum is back at the city limit." She pointed to the direction that the Dinobot had come in.

He just growled and shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Bad humans mean and stupid. Me Grimlock can't get any help there." He suddenly gasped. "You look like Lone Ranger! TV hero! Maybe Ranger can help!"

"Lone what-now?" She instantly got the joke. "Haha. Very funny." She dryly said, forgetting her fear of the robot dinosaur. "Just what are you?"

He pounded a claw to his chest. "Me Grimlock am Dinobot! Me strong and kick lot of butt! But...me Grimlock lost. Can't find home and other Dinobots."

"I'm not sure what a 'Dinobot' is, but your new savior, Mary Itani, can tell you where to go." The mink said proudly before getting off his nose. "However, that comes with a cost..." She wiggled her eyebrows at him, eager to see if he was packing some cash along with him.

The dinosaur Autobot looked at her, then the city. Her, then the city. This over and over again until he just stomped towards the metropolis in the distance. "Nah. Me Grimlock not pay for help. Me Grimlock get help elsewhere." Before he stepped away fully, he turned to the Tanuki behind him. "Weasel said you also lost. Maybe me Grimlock help by giving ride?" 

Before the Tanuki could reply, Mary got in the way. "Sorry, big guy, but she's already got a ride. She paid for it, after all." She showed the both of them the wad of cash that had been exchanged. 

"Don't remind me." The sporty girl crossed her arms in a huff before turning to the bit robot. "I think we can get some help for you in the city. You know how to swim?"

"Oh! And call me weasel one more time, and I'll go right up your nose."

_**Some minutes later...** _

Michiru and Grimlock had already exchanged names by the time both her current ride and the swimming Dinobot were side-by-side, approaching the mainland. Her day was already pretty stressful, considering her situation, but she never expected to cross paths with a runaway animatronic from some defunct amusement park or whatever a 'Dinobot' was. Still, he seemed friendly, if not a bit dim. "So, am humans friendlier in new city?" He asked.

"Correction." Mary raised a claw as her two teammates still eyed the Dinobot warily. "Animacity was specifically created for Beastmen. Honestly, were you built yesterday?"

"Nuh-uh! Birthday many solar cycles ago." He replied before looking at Michiru. "You look sad. What wrong?"

She turned to him, broken from her own thoughts. "It's nothing you would get. Don't worry about it."

"Rest assured, you're all gonna love it there." Mary assured the both of them. "You may have been lost before, but you'll feel right at home when you enter." While Michiru seemed to like that answer, Grimlock was a bit more hesitant. If his run-in with the humans was any indication, putting him in a crowd wasn't the best of ideas. Stupid as he was, he knew what would happen. Or really, he just didn't want to be called names and told to 'get out' again.

Shortly, they arrived, with the Dinobot jumping onto the shore. "They're not gonna freak out if they see him running around, right?" Michiru asked the mink, nervously glancing at how the monstrous robot saurian was chewing on a fish and ripping it apart. "Nevermind. Ask a stupid question..."

Mary just gave a small laugh. "You worry too much. If anything, they'll welcome him. Who knows how many Beastmen need a big strong guy to handle any problems that might come on. Now, run along. Pretend you never saw us."

"Me Grimlock good at playing pretend! Gotta go!" He turned to take his leave, Michiru following close to him as they went the same direction. "Where we going?"

"Anywhere, really. There's this...personal problem I need to take care of." She looked down before looking up at him. "So, are you a dinosaur who's a robot or a robot who's a dinosaur?" With her fear totally gone due to the utterly harmless nature of the big lug, she was starting to relax immensely. Maybe she was totally safe with a behemoth like this as a companion? Then again, she didn't want to take advantage of his kindness. She just figured that was a net positive.

"Me Grimlock made with bunch of bones and gears. Wheeljack make Grimlock and first Dinobots." He explained. "Me Grimlock strongest of all. That why me Grimlock leader!" He then looked sullen. "Me Grimlock hope other Dinobots doing okay. Nah, they strong too! Maybe they looking for Grimlock right now!"

Michiru sighed. "I had to run away from my family to get this thing solved. You sound like your family's rather close. What do you guys do? Do you also have your own city?"

"We have Dinobot Island, but we start to like hanging out with other Autobots. We get to beat up nasty and stupid Decepticons to defend Earth! Me Grimlock want to tell story about how Dinbots kicked butt of evil planet!" Despite his odd way of speaking, the way he sounded like a giddy kid was growing on her, but, again, so many questions...

"Wait a sec. Autobots? Decepticons? Defending Earth? I think we'd all know about that if we were attacked by giant killer robots. Let's face it. You yourself sticks out like a sore thumb." She replied. 

He looked at her oddly. "What you mean? Earth attacked all of time! But...huh. What if this Earth not me Grimlock's Earth? What if Grimlock on other planet?!" He grasped his head. "Me Grimlock confused!" 

"Calm down, big guy! You're gonna be fine!" She placed a comforting hand on his knee. "I guess we really do both have problems we can't explain."

"...yup. Too much thinking." Grimlock vented before the duo realized something when they traveled through the darkened alleyways and into the center of town. "It quiet. Too quiet. Me Grimlock always wanted to say that."

Nervously, the Tanuki nodded. The atmosphere wasn't anything but foreboding. That's when, at the corner of her eye, she saw a glowing white wolf standing atop a building in the distance, like an ethereal guardian of the night. "Did you see that?" She asked.

"See what? Giant scary group of eyes in shadows?" He pointed to just that, as two walls of glowing wolf eyes started to illuminate everywhere they turned to. "Me Grimlock not like this!" He geared up for an attack as the hordes started to draw closer. "Stand back, Michiru. Me Grimlock show scary animals who's king!" Ironically, his still stance made him seem like a statue, drawing a few glances, but otherwise, nobody paid him any heed.

Because why should they? They were all about to celebrate. Why worry about the sudden artistic dinosaur statue that probably got imported by the mayor? In that moment, every denizen threw off their wolf mask and exploded in cheer, with the place brightening up to boot. Pretty soon, the place had come alive with merrymaking and festivities, leaving the two slack-jawed. Grimlock's blue dino-optics scanned around for any danger, except there was none. "Uh...did me Grimlock miss something?"

Michiru, however, found her uncertainty absolutely destroyed by the sight of all of these beastmen in such harmony. "It's a festival, Grimlock!" She cried out joyously before realizing something. If Grimlock made one wrong move...

"Festival?! Me Grimlock like celebrations! Me Grimlock wonder if they have candy and prizes!" He exclaimed, stomping in anticipation and causing everybody to turn their heads to the thing they dismissed as a new, if not odd, statue. "Oh, no...here we go again." He groaned.

"Oh, crap." Michiru's tail straightened in panic.

Thankfully, an interruption came in the form of a giant monitor up above turned on, nabbing everyone's attention. "Everybody! Look! It's Mayor Rose!" A lion pointed. Indeed, the mouse woman on the screen appeared to be their leader and she had the warmest expression on her face. 

"Greetings, Animacity. While the years continue with tensions between us and humanity, I can safely say we have made the paradise for all of us a reality. Our trials and hardships and love for each-other has given us this beautiful city and our acceptance of others into it is what will keep this place alive for many more years to come. For example...Grimlock. The one that appeared in the human city, step forth."

Both the Dinobot and Tanuki were rather shocked she knew of him. Before he knew it, everybody's eyes were on his giant frame, but his confidence did not waver. "Me Grimlock present! What scary mouse lady want? Me Grimlock want no trouble, but me Grimlock bring trouble anyday!"

"Scary?! She's a solid ten, dino-dunce!" A camel beastman yelled.

"Jerry, now's not the time to get people to question your internet history." His ostritch partner reprimanded him. 

She just continued to give him that assuring smile. "Have no fear, friend." She showed him and the audience several images of his ill-fated arrival at the human city. "No matter how you got here, we know that you are scared inside. Unsure of where to turn to. You may have even lashed out in the process. Don't worry. We've all been there at some point." Several Beastmen hung their heads, finding that all too relate-able. Even Michiru had to concede the feelings of being without purpose and being lost in every sense of the word. "There is no more need to run or hide. You are welcome here, like everyone else."

Grimlock nodded vigorously. "Me Grimlock like you already! Everyone so nice!" He turned to the audience. "Me Grimlock like all of you! Hope best for entire city!"

"That's right! Let's us enjoy another ten years and many more of Animacity!" Rose exclaimed as the whole crowd erupted into further cheer, with Grimlock walking back to Michiru and even high-fiving a bird beastman in the process.

"Do you know what this means?" Michiru exclaimed as she tossed away her red cloak. "There's no reason to run anymore!"

"Hooray!" Grimlock jumped for joy, causing a tremor. "Oops! My bad! Me Grimlock be more careful." He lowered his head to get at his partner's level. "Want to have fun with Grimlock? See whole city from here!"

Without much care in the world, she hopped onto his head and her face lit up upon seeing how full of life every bit of the city was as she sat on his skull. "This is amazing! I can't believe I was afraid to come here!"

Grimlock, in turn, let out another roar, but it was one that was joined by several other roars in acknowledgement. "Grimlock happy! Maybe Grimlock finally get fanbase off of ground!"

And so, the two lost track of why they were here to begin with, joining in the fun instead. They marveled at a giant wolf skeleton float (though Grimlock said he could eat that thing in one bite, amusing Michiru). They joined in with the flamingo dancers (leading to a few more tremors, but the Dinobot could care less, 'cuz "Me Grimlock have finesse!"). And, of course, they gorged themselves on whatever food they were selling. The Beastmen were happy to show Grimlock the way to several discarded pieces of metal he scarfed down before he wowed them with his fire breath. "Me Grimlock having so much fun!"

"I know, right?" Michiru exclaimed as she drank her seventh can of Firebull, wowing the robot dinosaur with how she was gulping it down. "Whoo, this stuff has a real kick to it!" 

"Yeah! Me Grimlock's motor circuits gone amuck!" He giggled after chugging two cans down. "Me glad Grimlock got to meet Michiru. You good friend! Should hang with Dinobots someday!" 

As they laughed to each-other, she ran into another figure. This one was a rather intimidating wolf-man whom, despite his fearsome appearance, had tears leaking down his face. "Do you smell it? It's the smell of what many a Beastman has waited for thousands of years. Peace...joy...happiness..."

"Hmmm...me Grimlock am pretty gassy." The Dinobot smelled his own armpits (not that he really had those) before reeling away. 

"Hrn?" The wolf beastman looked up at him. "You...despite the power I sense inside you, you seem to have a good heart. Please. Use it to maintain this peace."

The two stared at him blankly before they turned to each-other. "Buddy, there are many types of people. With him, it's both weird and scary." Michiru instructed.

"Yup. What him even talking abou-huh?" The mysterious stranger had suddenly vanished, leaving them both confused. "Me Grimlock didn't know stranger was magician!"

_**A few minutes later...** _

Somewhere along the way, the two had gotten separated, but it was a conscious decision. Grimlock wanted to go watch the acrobats, while Michiru wanted to get more snacks for later. To the Dinobot, it wouldn't be hard to seek out his friend, even among the crowd. The mass of patrons would part easily if he commanded it, given his size. Already, several reptilian beastmen were trailing him, asking questions and even wondering if he could be a representative of their human-related plight. He was just too busy watching the show to care. 

"Me Grimlock may like here better than home! Nice people, good food, and people who are strong! Me think nothing can go wrong!" And that, dear reader, is the moment that our favorite robo-T.Rex failed to understand what not to say in any work of fiction in the history of ever.

_**KA-BOOM!** _

"OH, NO! IT WENT WRONG!" Grimlock shouted as he noticed a large plume of smoke and fire from the place with the now-fallen monitor. "Michiru! Me Grimlock coming!" But that wasn't the end of it. That terrorist attack was bad enough, but something else was about to wreck the festivities.

A large object was careening from the sky, like a silver/red meteorite. It crashed into a nearby building, leaving a massive hole in it and obscuring what was inside in smoke and fire. Grimlock's attention was already on it, along with the beastmen next to him. As they stared at the object, it then fell to the ground with a loud CLANG! "That no meteor! That..." Grimlock's optics caught a familiar purple symbol on whatever he was looking at. "Decepticon! Stand back, everybody! Me Grimlock beat up bad robot!"

Right as he said that, the Decepticon began to uncurl from his ball-like position. Much to Grimlock's surprise, he was about his height and he was in dinosaur mode for crying out loud! The hulking machine looked like a knight in wicked onyx armor, complete with a fault, boot-like feet, a gauntlet-arm, and a head that was basically a helmet with a thinner blue visor than Grimlock's. Rows of spikes jutted out of his back and his left arm was a massive whip that resembled at snake-like thick tail with a flail at the end. "Sc...Sco...SCOOOOORN!" The robot raised his limbs as he roared his name.

Everybody got as far away as they could as the two giants met in the center of the ruined festival, catching everybody's attention. Michiru, whom had just almost got killed by that terrorist earlier, noticed. "Grimlock! What's going on?!"

"Good to see you, Michiru! Me Grimlock ending day on high note by beating up bad Decepticon! Everyone! Watch this! **GRIMLOCK _TRANFORM!!!_** " Letting out a roar, he shifted into his robot mode, getting out his massive sword in the process. "Me Grimlock both beast and bot at same time! What can you do?"

The newcomer just growled at him in utter hatred as he flexed his claw and smashed his whip against the ground. "Scorn...SCORN HATE YOU! Scorn hate EVERYBODY! Scorn kill...KILL...KIIIIIILL! **TRANFORM!** " The surprises just wouldn't end, as the enemy began to shift into a dinosaur, but one that looked like a demonic and rather outdated Spinosaures. The kind that was bigger than Grimlock's dino-mode, had long clawed arms, a crocodile-like maw that had embers constantly coming out of it, and a three-sailed back that looked like it would poke more than just eyes out. He roared an absolutely hideous noise that pushed back the smaller folk.

"Uh, friend of yours?" Michiru asked Grimlock, who's gaze deepened into a hateful one. How dare this Decepticon sully the name of the Dinobots like this?! How dare he?!

"Get away!" Grimlock yelled at Michiru. "Me Grimlock protect city from fake Dinobot! Hide somewhere safe! Grimlock not lose new friend today!" He gave a thumbs-up. "Me Grimlock got this." Even then, she could barely nod. She couldn't just let him get killed by this monstrosity of a robot. Unlike Grimlock's somewhat cheesy but cool dino-mode, this one looked like it crawled straight out of Hell to feed upon the souls of the living. Or something like that. Still, she ran off.

She looked back one last time as Grimlock charged forth, sword in hand. "Don't worry, big guy. I'll get you out of this mess before you know it." She swore to herself. But how?

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blG5kFTw-1A>

"Chaaaarge!" Grimlock shouted before he found himself holding onto Scorn's jaws as he attempted to take a bite out of the hero. Digging his heels into the ground, Grimlock lifted the titanic beast into the air and slammed him down into a large building, causing the rubble to pile onto the enemy. "Me win already? Yeah! Me strongest there is!"

His claim was proven wrong when Scorn burst from the rubble in robot mode, jumped past him, and wrapped his whip arm around his neck, bringing him close enough for an uppercut that sent him flying. "Scorn kill Dinobot leader! Then, make Dinobots allies so we spread mass destruction!" He shouted as he jumped onto Grimlock and began stomping on his chest. 

"Nng...Dinobots...no follow...DECEPTICON!" Grimlock caught his foot and pushed back before lunging at his foe and just started pummeling him with this fist. He roared a berserker's call as he did so, even leaving cracks on Scorn's helm before he was headbutted off. The two stared at each-other again and, despite not having mouths, their hate was clear in how they moved slowly in front of each-other and how they clenched their fists. Some of the more superstitious beastmen swore they had different colored auras (Grimlock's being red and the other purple), showing the duality of their nature.

At last, they both transformed into their dinosaur modes at the same time and charged at each-other. Grimlock was about to grab onto those jaws again so he could split them apart, but Scorn suddenly leaped and made sure his spiky back was facing his foe's direction. The robot Tyrannosaurus found himself getting impaled by at least three of those spikes, pinning him to the ground and causing energon to be coughed up from his jaws. "Me Scorn want you to bleed more! MOOORE!" The Decepticon Dinobot snarled as he got back on the ground and pushed Grimlock onto the ground with his claws, leaving the neck area exposed.

However, as Grimlock struggled to keep the evil Spinosaurus from biting into his neck, a familiar smug beastman was tying leftover fireworks to the tail of the titan. The rest of the crowd decided to join by throwing all they could at the Decepticon. "Go back to the humans! You belong there!" A monkey shouted before throwing several oranges at Scorn's nostrils, causing him to sneeze. 

The monstrous enemy roared at the crowd, scaring them back. "Scorn hate you all...Scorn destroy-"

"AW, SHUT UP!" Grimlock shouted before unleashing a blast of flame at his foe. Scorn moved out of the way, but a spark managed to ignite the fireworks on his tail. Scorn's expression morphed from ferocious to panicked when he realized what was happening. He attempted to blow it out, but Grimlock then turned into his robot mode and punched him across the skull, knocking him to the ground. "Me Grimlock give you express trip to sky!"

"No...Scorn...not weak...Scorn destroy you...then destroy Megat-" He felt his tail get clenched by his enemy's fists. "Oh, boy." Grimlock lifted him into the air and, as the fuses to the fireworks continued to burn, he swung the Decepticon Dinobot around and around and around. 

Grimlock narrowed his mono-optic as he felt fatigue set in. "Me Grimlock...getting...dizzy...but me Grimlock never give up!" His swinging went even faster before he finally let go, flinging Scorn into the air right as the fireworks went off, sending him further away, roaring in panic and hatred at the same time. A silence followed before the fireworks exploded, leaving the enemy's fate unknown, but still creating a fantastic display anyway. 

A moment of silence transpired before Grimlock, rather painfully, transformed into his dinosaur mode. "Me Grimlock save day! Beat Decepticon good and plen-BLARGH!" He coughed up a bunch of energon, his knees nearly buckling. "Me Grimlock feel sick...gotta find Michiru..." With that, he lumbered away from the wreckage, leaving everyone to their own thoughts about the situation. 

All the while, Mary tapped her foot. "Not even a 'thank you' for helping him out of that situation? Hmph. Maybe some other time." She turned to the ruined buildings and terrified beastmen. "Although...it'll be interesting to see how this turns out."

_** "THE TRANSFORMERS WILL RETURN AFTER THESE MESSAGES" ** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, basically, Grimlock and the other Dinobots are all basically a bunch of very young adults (around the age of 16) because, unlike the other Autobots, they were made by Wheeljack around the time they came to Earth. It's been plenty of years, after Optimus Prime's revival during that Hate Plague episode, even. So, no need to feel uncomfortable.
> 
> Up Next: Where are the other Dinobots? What became of Scorn? And what trouble will Grimlock get into next? A lot, really.


	2. Robots (Not) in Disguise

_**"WE NOW RETURN BACK TO THE TRANSFORMERS"** _

_**Back with Grimlock...** _

Despite the confusion and several questions lobbed at him by beastmen, the injured Dinobot leader managed to drag himself away from the crowd. "Beat evil Dinobot. Gotta find...Michiru." He grunted as he clutched his mangled waist. "Me Grimlock can do this. Just need to find Michiru's scent." Despite not being in his dinosaur mode, he could still utilize the abilities it granted, just on a lesser scale. Even he knew that transforming in this state would be incredibly painful or worse.

That's when he heard the sound of bones breaking and the scent of Michiru to boot. "Me Grimlock coming! Me save the day!" Despite looking awkward as he did it, he rushed over to a nearby alleyway, breaking through a wall in the process. "Hi! What me Grimlock miss?" He looked down as he emerged from the smoke, finding three unconscious beastmen in a pile of rubble. "Oh. They asleep." He looked up, spotting both Michiru and that wolf beastman from earlier. "Hi, guys."

"Grimlock! You're okay!" Despite the events that happened a minute ago, she was glad to see that he had apparently won his battle against that other robot, but not without a sacrifice. "Oh my gosh! He didn't get you too bad, right?"

"It only flesh wound, as humans say." He replied before turning to the intrigued wolf beastman. "Me Grimlock remember you. Me save festival! You save Michiru?"

"...you defeated that other monster, did you?" The stoic one said. "Then you have done well. Go home, warrior. Sleep your injuries off and allow me to finish what I started." He moved forward and stomped on one of the unconscious beastmen's faces.

"No, stop! That's horrible! Why would you do that?" Michiru demanded, still horrified that this guy was being so brutal towards his own kind.

"Yeah, why you do that?" Grimlock asked as well. "Are they bad guys?"

"Indeed. Hired by humans to destroy everything that makes this city whole. They deserve no mercy. That much is true." He stated. 

"Hmmm...then that mean they do deserve to be beaten up. But they no fight back! Bad guys not worth it." With just a finger, he pushed away the avenging beastman. "We go home now. Find someone better to fight."

"What he said! You made your point! Let's just move on with our lives." Michiru agreed. 

However, that didn't seem to sit well with this lupine crusader. "Do NOT get in my way. I will not rest until this city is purged of their evil. And I will make it hurt all the while." Pushing away the Dinobot's hand, he stomped down on the fallen villains even harder, breaking their teeth and drawing even more blood. Even Grimlock, who reveled in battle, was put off by this shocking display of brutality. 

"Stop it!" Michiru yelled again before she began to glow aquamarine around her tail. "I said STOP!" Before both wolf and Dinobot knew it, they were pushed back by a blast of brilliant blue light, revealed to be a massive puffy tail.

"Whoa! What was that?! Was that magic trick? Do it again!" Grimlock lumbered over them both before settling behind Michiru. As she held her arms, almost to defend the fallen ones, he poked at her now-normal tail. "Where did magic go?"

"This place..." She said under her breath. "It was supposed to be a Beastman Paradise!"

"Exactly. Humans are the enemy. Beastmen hired by humans just as much. They're lucky I even allow them to live." The wolf beastman replied, having gotten over his shock over that burst of power.

"Uh...maybe me Grimlock eat them instead!" The Dinobot suggested. 

That didn't lift the mood one bit. "What the?! NO!" Michiru yelled. "That's gross! Why would you even...look, not all humans are bad! I know THAT much is true! How about that?!"

"Lies. All humans are the same." The standoffish one narrowed his eyes.

All that accomplished was making the tanuki-girl clench her fists. "I know that...because...I am human! I _was human!_ "

That led to a moment of silence, but rather than add tension, it just broke it entirely. "...with that appearance?" The wolf-beastman asked in an almost chiding way.

"Yeah, me Grimlock see holes in that. You not human! You have magic tail! GRRGH!" Grimlock clutched his sparking chest before falling to one knee. 

"Grimlock!" She turned to him, forgetting her anger and remembering that her friend was gravely injured.

"It okay! No pain, no gain! Me survive...me must survive for Dinobots...for friends..." He muttered before the wolf-beastman moved past him and patted him on the leg.

"Perhaps this is a more pressing matter. That being your injuries. Come. I'll let this slide precisely once." He said before taking the lead, leaving the other two in the dust.

"Me Grimlock think doggy man kind of jerk." The Dinobot admitted.

"I know. I know." Michiru sighed. "Let's get you patched up."

_**Somewhere in a secret military base...** _

Ten miles deep within the Earth, several men in white suits with helmets obscuring their faces were moving down a long elevator shaft deeper within the planet. "So...what exactly are we dealing with here?" One asked.

"If it's that hard for you to believe, take a look at the news. We've had freaks running around for years. Robot dinosaurs honestly sounds like a breath of fresh air." Another replied as they neared their destination. "The president is already planning something huge. This is just a side-project we're attending to."

"What kind of side-project involves robot versions of some rapid reptiles from millions of years ago?" The questioning one asked again as the doors opened into a darkened cavernous room filled to the brim with monitors, more agents, and two very large containment cells that towered over them and the machinery. 

"Somebody's on a roll." Another agent joked before pointing to the darkened cells. "Within those things are two other monsters that showed up for no reason. That robot T.Rex was only the start. Thankfully, we managed to wrangle these two up while they were unconscious. Although..."

The lights went on, revealing the two new giant robots. One was a Triceratops that was ramming against the cell with all of his might. The other was a Stegosaurus that was whacking his tail against the sides over and over again. "...I'm not sure if we'll be able to hold them in like this for long." He finished.

The two Dinobots continued to rage against their restraints, uncaring of the two new humans that walked. "When me Slag get out, me gonna put insides on outside!" The Triceratops stated in an almost sinister way.

"Me Snarl just want to go home! Me break all of you to do it!" The Stegosaur, of course, snarled. 

Above them, two cranes holding circular devices moved closer to them, but still kept their distance. "They'll be changing their tunes once we get these things on them." The head scientist said. "The plan to save the world has only just begun..."

_**Outside the nearest human city...** _

Somewhere within the woods, another Dinobot had awakened. This lumbering behemoth of an Autobot groaned as he stood up in his robot mode, rubbing his head as he took in his surroundings. "Ugh...did me Sludge get big fish this time?" He immediately realized he wasn't back in his pool with the others. "Uh oh...me Sludge in trouble!"

As he wandered through the woods, he began to hear some voices behind the trees. Pushing some of them aside, he peered at three humans that seemed fixated on one spot in the entire place. "Alright. Let's practice one more time." Their leader appeared to be a human female his age, one that instantly caught the dunderhead's optics. The other two humans were male and looking a bit scraggly and amateur if he knew any better. 

"Do we have to do this, Joy? This happens all of the time. I'd hardly call it breaking news." The brunette male human in the ruined gray sweater and long-pants pointed out. "Humans and beast-men, always going at each-other's throats."

"This kinda like that time you had us investigate them dumping toxic chemicals into the water, only for it to be just a bunch of rowdy kids throwing in stuff from their science project." The other human was a glasses-wearing dweebish male with a blue cap on his head and threadbare slacks. 

"But this isn't JUST about that kind of thing, Rick, Tony! This is how our race has been unfairly leading our furry/scaly/what-have-you brothers and sisters into a life of crime! Totally newsworthy!" The human female, Sludge just couldn't get his optics off of. Her wavy blonde hair that almost looked like a manta ray and reached down to her back as a tail-tip, her freckles, pierced ears, blue eyes, and captivating voice...he didn't care that her outfit consisted of a shoddy tanktop, baggy jeans (with no belt to boot), and boots way too wide for her. He didn't really care much about the rather generous bust, because robots, but still. 

And they needed help, from the looks of things. Prime DID say helping humans was the right thing to do. Why not help this bunch? But not as a robot, no. Earth-girls liked dinosaurs, right? "Here goes! **TRANSFORM!** " With wanderlust in his processor, Sludge transformed into his Apatosaurus alt-mode and stomped forth. 

"Uh, guys..." Rick was the firs to turn to the massive razor-jawed sauropod robot moving through the trees. 

"What the heck is that?!" Tony grasped his cap in panic.

"Whoa..." Joy's eyes widened in wonder as the creature towered over them. "Just like in the news.This could actually be it! Tony! Get the camera! Rick! The microphone! We practice right now! There's no way they'll reject with the story of a lifetime!"

"Are you kidding?! That 'story' shouldn't involve that thing eating us alive!" Tony shivered alongside his partner.

The blonde slapped his forehead. "I swear, you guys have no drive nowadays." She grabbed the microphone from the nearby van and lifted it to the curious Dinobot. "Excuse me! Are you in any way related to the giant dinosaur robot that attacked not too long ago?" She then shot up. "Crap! Hold that thought! I need to get into the mood. Ahem!" She turned back, confusing the Autobot.

"Me Sludge not know what going on, but me don't think me Sludge no like it." He spoke as he lowered his legs. "Me Sludge want to talk to pretty girl!"

"See, everyone? He's harmless. Just like any other sauropod." She chastised the other two before facing the camera provided to her. "This is Joy Meadows, reporting live from the Longing Woods, in an exclusive interview with what could be the second of an invasion force of robots designed to more-or-less look like dinosaurs! Mr....?"

"Me am Sludge!" The Dinobot said cheerily. "Am me gonna be on television? Me want spot next to Road Runner! Me beat him up so Coyote can eat him for once! Whom am you, pretty girl?"

She cast an uneasy glance to her two crewmembers (and only ones), whom just shrugged. "This WAS your idea. Better stick with it." Rick pointed out.

The rookie reporter just sighed, sitting against a rock. "Okay...Sludge. Maybe some food would make you more comfy?" She grabbed a nearby branch and broke off some bits that contained foliage. He wasted no time feasting on, growling contently. "Alright. You can do this, Joy." She told herself as the sun began to rise over the horizon. "I'm going to ask a few questions at your discretion."

"Discre...discre...? Me Sludge not know what that mean. Maybe take for dinner first?" Sludge tried to remember a few times Powerglide made the moves on his human girlfriend. "Me think of good spot! Over there!" He pointed a foot toward the city. "Good eats maybe there!"

"...this is gonna take longer than I thought." Joy admitted to her camera.

_**Meanwhile at the Pier...** _

It wasn't fair, as per usual. Nina stared out the glass window in her human form and slumped next to her bed. Sure, her father promised to bring her all she asked for from the festival, but she was still forbidden from going out there, despite how much fun everybody was happening. Something about wanting to keep her "safe" from enemies of The Family. But, if this is what it meant to be part of this little Mafia, she wanted out as soon as possible.

She could just...break out and swim over to the human world and never look back. But there was a nagging feeling of her father's words about humans being true. That they were savages that would cut her up as soon as they looked at her. Not to mention, The Family DID have a reputation of making as many enemies as they did allies. She may have been naive, but she wasn't stupid. Still, it was a depressing thought to be cooped up here for even a majestic festival like this one.

The dolphin-girl looked up to the sky and saw the stars. "Mom...if you're listening, please send me a sign that you're not only happy, but that things will be different. That'll I'll be able to make at least one friend in my lifetime." She put her hands together. "Maybe even send me an angel. The sweetest and kindest one you can." 

Her answer came when she saw something falling from the sky and heading straight for the water outside. With a mighty splash, the object fell, spraying her window with the rush of the salty liquid. Nina nervously stayed put, eager to see what just landed in what was basically her backyard. A minute passed before something broke the surface of the uneasy water. A large metal claw that eventually gripped the nearest patch of land. 

Before long, the dreaded Scorn, still in his Spinosaurus mode, had managed to drag himself back onto land, roughed up from the fireworks and the landing. Several bits of him were sparking and he was so tired that he could only drag himself out slowly. "When Scorn...get claws on Dinobot...Scorn gonna rip him a new nose-pipe!" He growled before settled down, laying on the hard ground with his legs still twitching. The side of his head was facing the house, allowing one of his optics to see the beastgirl in front of him. "What you looking at?"

She realized she had been awfully silent when this stranger dragged himself ashore. That's when she remembered several posts from the social media websites she had been frequenting. That there had been a large metal dinosaur both in the human city and Animacity. Only, he was nowhere near as terrifying as the one looking her dead in the eye. "Um...hello? You're not really supposed to be here." Nina then noticed the various injuries the Decepticon Dinobot had sustained. "But you're hurt! I need to call an ambulance or something!"

"NO! Scorn need no help! Scorn get up on own!" He roared. " **SCORN _TRANSFORM!_** " Right as he transformed into his knight-like robot mode, he still floundered on the ground, still only able to lay on his back and turn his head to the dolphin girl. "Go ahead and laugh. It be last sound human makes." 

"I-I-I'm not laughing!" She stammered. "I'm-" Her ringtone suddenly blared for all to hear, leaving her to fumble with her phone and try to turn it off. However, she noticed how the peppy tune it was playing was actually making the giant robot start to tense much less and even calm down. "Do you like this song too?"

Scorn turned his head back, but relented. "Scorn hate everything and everyone...but not music. Scorn love music and battle and killing Autobots. Why human like music? Humans stupid and weak. Not know good thing from bad."

"Hey! Not all humans are dumb! I'm sure of it!" She argued, turning into her beastman form for good measure and surprising the Decepticon. "How about you listen to as much music as you want, but just don't hurt me. Not even my dad and his friends." She hastily added that last bit.

"You let Scorn listen to music?" He tilted his head in confusion. "But music privilege. That what Megatron say. Megatron orders. Scorn obeys. No time to listen to music, Megatron says. Keep Scorn in cave until need for battle."

Nina had no clue whom this 'Megatron' guy was or what exactly this robot monster was either, but the fact that he considered music a privilege and that detail about living in a cave made her think about her current living situation. Taking a page from her dad, she moved a bit closer. "Let's make another good deal. You can spend the night and I won't tell anybody! You look pretty tired, you know."

"Why you being nice to Scorn?" He asked, settling down right next to the glass even closer this time. "Nobody ever nice to Scorn."

"I guess I just think everybody deserves a chance. Even someone as scary as you!" She shrugged before giving a yawn. "But I think I'm pretty tuckered out today. My name's Nina, by the way! It's nice to meet you. Did you come from the human world? Because you kinda look like a human, except not, and..."

With that, a barrage of questions was flung the confused evil Dinobot's way. He growled, but in a tired way rather than a threatening one. This was going to be a long night, even before he would have to think of a plan for revenge against that damnable Grimlock.

_**Somewhere else at the city limit...** _

Deep within a large hole in the ground, something stirred, but ultimately decided not to do anything much but enjoy the silence and how snug it all felt. It's ridiculous to think being nearly buried alive could be snug in any way, but you weren't this Dinobot. Whatever the case, whatever early rising Beastmen around were looking down into the hole, noticing something metallic moving, but, after the mayhem they had witnessed at the festival, left it alone for it to be someone else's problem.

And nobody bothered Swoop as he slept the day away. Or, at least, he planned to. But the best laid plans of dinos and robots, you know what they say about them...

_**Meanwhile with Marie and Company...** _

Though it was usually in her best interest to go solo in her scamming ways, even this mink found the company of her hyena and boar associates to be reassuring when going into abandoned warehouses like this one. "Alright. Let's do some improv for fun's sake. This place will be as if it's undergoing foreclosure and we're the ones clearing the place out in a totally legal way."

"Do you have to make everything a damn game?" The boar woman, Waya, snorted.

"That's just how she rolls. Besides, there's got to be something worthwhile. And hopefully, far away from any giant robots." The hyena man, Haku, hoped. 

Waya chuckled. "What's the matter? Hoping he won't eat you? We've dealt with worse."

"But nothing that was big as a house. Maybe even bigger!" Haku argued.

"Shush! We're on a covert mission for our newest client. Best not to make too much noise." Marie said as she slunk through every corner looking for the best stuff. "Come on. Firearms, drugs, food, anything. There's got to be something the previous owners generously left behind for us. Of course, I could always just use my talents and have this over with by convincing all the souls outside of our little...charity."

"Marie, with all due respect, you can only fool so many people at a time so much until they start to hate your face." Haku said as he emptied some boxes, all of which looked already plundered.

The boar among them sniffed the air. "Something's up. It's like this place already got cleared out." 

Marie's eye twitched a bit, given that every single room/box/whatever was a dud. "Peculiar." She said to herself as she saw a few suspicious footprints leading to the far end of the warehouse. "Follow me. It appears we have an uninvited guest."

"But if whoever did this came first, wouldn't we be the uninvited guest?" Haku asked before Wayu slapped him upside the head.

"Get a grip and stop overthinking things!" The boar-woman ordered before the trio made their way to the footprints.

Eventually, they opened the doors to the other side and found a large pile of metal and other assorted objects was being accosted by something as big as the robot dinosaur they met before, only a tad smaller. He was a large boxy robot with an ocean-blue color scheme, a dial on his chest, wheels on his legs/shoulders, a singular visor-optic, and a mouthplate. It made no noise as he stepped towards the shores of Animacity, as if he was never there to begin with. 

"You've gotta be kidding me." Haku deflated.

"What is this? Some cheap science-fiction novel?!" Wayu grunted before making a loud stomp with her hoof. "HEY! YOU! You're gonna share that, are ya', tin man?"

That caused the robot to stop and face them. "What's this?" He spoke in a deep almost surfer-like accent. "Like, I ain't got time to mingle with the locals. Even if you all look kinda weird compared to the humans I've seen. Later, organics." He turned back, paying them no heed.

"Hmph. How rude." Marie snapped her fingers. "Ramming speed."

"Already on it!" With that, Wayu charged at the robot's legs, striking him and causing him to tumble over and drop the pile of materials.

"OW! How the scrap did you do that?!" The machine yelled before standing up and getting out a grease gun. "That's it! You wanna mess with my mission? You've got another thing coming, dude!" He fired at the boar, narrowly hitting her, but causing an explosion that pushed her back to the other two beastmen. 

"Hold up. Before you go firing like a madman, why don't we make a deal?" Marie said calmly, confidently walking over to the behemoth of a bot. "You want something, we need something, all of us need something from this very area. If you'll just let us sample those goods and talk about what goes and what doesn't, we can call it even and split 50/50. Of course, it'll be 70/50 in favor of us, considering you shot at us."

"How does she do that?" Haku asked his partner. "It's like she doesn't even care that we're being attacked by...well, that."

The robot just chuckled. "Trying to make a deal with a Decepticon? You're bold, dude. I'll give you that." He shot up, an idea forming in his processor. "You know, maybe we CAN work something out, but you'll just have to follow me. Consider this a great honor. Like, I normally wouldn't do this, but me and the others are in pretty desperate and confusing times. What do you say, weasel?" 

She raced up his body to get right into his face, surprising him. "MINK. If we're going to do this, you'll refer to me as what I am! Oh, and the name's Marie Itami. You?"

"Wipe-Out. Proud servant of my one master." He replied before pointing to the other two. "And you dudes! You're coming as well! Our deal requires many more hands on deck. You'll see what I mean in a minute. **TRANSFORM!** " He yelled before he was suddenly a large jeep that opened his doors. "Wipe your feet and ride the Wipe-Out."

"Please don't phrase it like that again." Haku pointed out.

Marie thought about this for a minute before shrugging. "No progress without risk. It was getting boring around here anyway." She was the first to hop into the living vehicle before beckoning the others. "Relax, you two. Where's your sense of adventure?" The associates just gave visible sighs, as if knowing that they probably were making a bad mistake. But, alas. She was right. No progress without any risk.

_**"THE TRANSFORMERS WILL RETURN AFTER THESE MESSAGES"** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To recap, Grimlock's needs a band-aid, Scorn's met the mob (sorta), Slag and Snarl are screwed, Swoop is sleepy, and Sludge got in with some losers.
> 
> Oh, and that robot Marie and company are following? They may or may not regret following him. Up next, Grimlock goes to school...sort of. And it goes downhill from there.
> 
> Bonus: Joy Meadows, Rick, and Tony are based on characters from the G1 Marvel comics of Transformers. And yes, Sludge had a massive crush on her back then. Here, it might go better than that ever did.


	3. Grimlock and Michiru Get Schooled

_**"WE NOW RETURN BACK TO THE TRANSFORMERS"** _

**_Meanwhile with Grimlock and company..._ **

"Ooohhh...Grimlock has an owie." The Dinobot leader groaned as they all traveled through the alleyways. How they all fit, one can't say.

"Where are we going?" Michiru asked Shirou, hoping the giant robot behind her wouldn't collapse on top of them. However, both she and Grimlock exchanged a confused look when the wolf-beastman was suddenly human. A rather good and young-looking one at that.

He just looked back at them. "Well...aren't you going to turn as well?" He asked Michiru. "Turn back into a human?"

Obviously, that threw her off-guard. "Sorry. Can't do that. I...don't exactly know how." Shirou just sighed, sensing this was going to be harder than he thought.

"Dog person transform too? You AM magician! Me Grimlock transform, but...grgh. Can't right now..." He whimpered. "Me like beast-form better. Why Michiru turn into human?"

"Because it's not exactly normal for me." She replied. "I really did use to be human."

"Don't say something like that. It's impossible. Simple as that." Shirou said, his stoic expression not leaving him as they traversed the streets, where EVERYONE was in human form. Naturally, that made the sporty girl feel just a tad bad that they had it good and she didn't due to a lack of research on her part. Plus, weren't they all supposed to be beasts a moment ago? At least, until Shirou reminded her that was because, y'know, festival.

"Me believe you." She was brought out of her stupor when Grimlock spoke, ignoring all of the looks he was getting. "Me believe friend am human AND beast. Transforming normal. You probably mode-locked like me Grimlock. You hurt too?"

She felt a little better that at least somebody believed her (even if it was a machine that was dumb as a rock). "No, but I do have a disease. That has to be the answer why I look like this!" She smugly looked at Shirou. "Hey! You see that? He's got the right idea and I bet he doesn't know how to count to two!" She closed her mouth, realizing she just insulted her ally. "Uh, I mean-"

"Me Grimlock no stupid! Me Grimlock king!" The Autobot shouted before Shirou put a rough hand against his mouthplate.

"Enough. People are already getting suspicious about you. Mayor Rose may have helped you be welcome for the most part, but one can never be sure." The wolf beastman instructed. Though Grimlock muttered about it being not fair, he obeyed.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination. "How's Grim' gonna fit in that?" Michiru asked before turning to the Autobot. "Can I call you Grim?"

"Is that nickname? Me Grimlock like nicknames! Me call you...Michy! It less long." He replied, embarrassing the tanuki girl a tad, but she just rolled with it.

"Sure. Why not?" She shrugged.

"Stay there in the alley." Shirou instructed Grimlock. "We need to go inside. We'll get you help. But no not move. Do you understand?"

Feeling rather tired, the Dinobot saw no reason to argue, slumping against the wall and resting down, his hand still on his big wound. "Okay. Me go to sleep soon. Where you going?"

"To tend to the whims of a clearly delusional girl." Shirou answered justly.

"HEEEEY! I'm not delusional! I'm telling you! I used to be human! You want proof? Let's go inside right now!" Michiru said, stepping inside the building already.

All Shirou did was sigh heavily. "Since when did I have to deal with this of all things?"

"Me thing dog-guy have no imagination." Grimlock crossed his arms. "Me believe in friend. Me no believe in sad-faced jerk."

"Believe what you will. You're clearly not from either the humans or beastmen. I would suggest you listen to those who actually know what they're talking about. Until then, rest well, Grimlock. It's going to be a long day tomorrow, I can tell." He stated before entering the building and leaving the Dinobot alone.

Minutes turned into hours, with Grimlock having nothing to do. Obviously, he was quite peeved and bored, not to mention he wanted his injury fixed to transform again. "Nnng...what taking wolf-guy so long?!"

Suddenly, the doors opened. "Sorry! You must be...oh my, you're a big one!" A rotund woman with a kind expression entered his view, holding a wrench and flex-seal tape. "So sorry for keeping you alone."

"Huh? Where Michiru? Where wolf-guy?" He asked, though he was a bit happy to see someone clearly intending to patch him up as she did her best to get to his wound. So, he laid a bit more against the ground to help her.

"My name's Melissa and, while I usually help beastmen alongside my husband, it's a little know fact that I do some mechanical work on the side." She beamed before getting out a toolbox from her dress. "I may lack my figure from years ago, but that doesn't mean I don't know my way around whatever's broken." Grimlock watched as she began to take a good look at his wound. "Oh! And those two are staying at our place. Shirou practically lives with us, but Michiru is going to live in the guest room. She'll be fine, once she registers as a beastman. Maybe you should too?"

He just tilted his head at her ass he started to tinker at the hole in him. "Regi...regi...whu? AH! That tickles!" He giggled a bit before he nearly clenched his core in pain. "Be careful, nice lady!"

"Apologies. It's been such a while and...are these dinosaur bones?! You certainly aren't any normal machine, are you? Granted, it's not every day a robot walks in and protects our city from danger." When Melissa got out a roll of tape, she beamed at him again. "Consider us beastmen in your debt for stopping that other robot."

"Heh. It nothing. Me Grimlock hero! But me Grimlock also want to help friend with problem and...maybe find other friends. Other Dinobots." He knew it wouldn't be easy, but since when did that stop him before.

"Michiru's problem? I'm sure she's just imagining things. The poor dear lost her wallet too, so she doesn't have anymore proof of what she claims." Melissa said sympathetically.

If the Autobot could pound his chest in pride, he would. "Then me Grimlock help her find wallet! Me no like seeing friend sad. Unlike wolf-guy. He rude!"

"Shirou? I suppose he's always been like that, but his sense of justice is second to none." As she filled up the hole with various doo-dads, the Dinobot found his hole covered up with powerful black flex-seal tape. "Now, you get some rest like a good boy."

Despite wanting to transform to test out whether these repairs worked, he let out a heavy yawn. "Okaaaay...good night, nice lady..." With that, he was finally allowed to get some rest, dreaming of adventures back at home and maybe, just maybe, he'd get the chance to introduce Michiru to Spike and Wheelie. Okay, maybe not that last part of his friends. The rhyming was becoming rather irksome nowadays.

_**The next day...** _

Grimlock, while in robot mode, looked in awe of all around him. Animacity at day was a much more bright sight, with his face reflected on each shiny glass window. Everybody was in human form and they were all staring at him as he, Michiru, and Shirou walked into the registration building. "Wow. So many people." He said as he and the girl looked around.

"Yeah, this place is pretty packed. We're gonna be here forever." Michiru was still depressed over not having her wallet with her, let alone having to register as a beastman, but she saw Grimlock had one as well. "You too?"

"Me Grimlock getting regi...regi...whatever to be legit hero! Then, me Grimlock find your wallet." He stated.

"Oh. You know too?" She perked up a bit. "That's pretty sweet of you, but the thief that took it is probably luxuriating with whatever meager sum I've got."

Shirou turned away. "This is where I drop you off. Grimlock, keep an eye out on her. I have my own duties."

"Sure thing!" However, as soon as the Dinobot said that, two beastmen got in a fight over where to stand in line, the following brawl between bulldog and bull resulting in the former getting almost gored. "Oooh! A fight! Me Grimlock want!"

"H-hey! The heck just happened?!" Michiru called out.

"Just an example of one of the few rules around Animacity. Whenever a fight between younglings occurs, the strongest wins, no matter what the reason." Shirou explained before taking his leave. "It's a very simple rule."

While that unnerved the already getting disillusioned Michiru, Grimlock pumped his fists in glee. "Me Grimlock like this city even more! Me Grimlock strongest! Never lose an argument again!"

"But...it's not right." She replied. "This is supposed to be a place where everybody gets along. Not fight over who gets to be in line and push people around." She turned to him, giving him a bit of a stern look. "You don't push people around, do you?"

Grimlock crossed his arms, shaking his head. "Nope. That not fighting. That bullying. Grimlock no like bullies. Grimlock STOMP on bullies like Decepticons or fake Dinobot!"

"Already puts you a step above these guys." Michiru huffed before noticing a shady-looking figure. Lanky and clearly stealing somebody's wallet. In fact..."HEY! Grimlock, that's the guy who took my wallet!"

"Huh?! Then we chase! Be right back, everybody! **TRANSFORM!** " He shouted before turning into his Tyrannosaurus mode and, alongside Michiru, giving chase to the thief. He even smashed through a wall to follow. "Sorry!" He called out before continuing his chase alongside his friend. "Me also hate people who take what isn't there's!"

"Aw, shut up, you walking chrome pile! Ain't nothing stopping me!" The monkey beastman thief exclaimed before running into a dark alleyway. However, it seemed like alleyways were becoming the next best thing, because Michiru was waiting for him on the other side, while Grimlock managed to push himself in to close the distance, roaring at his face. "EEP! Okay! Maybe we can work something out!"

Already, the Tanuki girl had an arm wrapped around his neck. "I remember you! You'd better give me back my wallet or we're gonna teach you some knuckle music! Right, Grim?" She smirked at the Dinobot, whom cracked his knuckles while chuckling. 

"Listen, I can't remember that far back! I swear!" He started to panic, the metal beast's jaws right in front of him. 

"Far back?! It was yesterday!" She protested before Grimlock ripped the beastman thief from her grip and held him in his grasp, leaving her with only the shirt. "Hey! Grim!"

"Me want to do the thing! Me no like thieves!" He said as he started to shake the thief like a soda-can. "Tellustellustellustellus!" 

"Heeeeeelp meeeeee!" The thief called out in vain.

"Alright. You may be onto something." Michiru said as she rummaged through the beastman's jacket. "Let's see...where is it?" All she got were two wallets that the monkey had stolen recently. "Eh?! But I remember you taking-"

"Okay, I give! I gave it to Gran Grandma from Rabbit Town! You know?! The place where most junk and stuff goes for the right price?! Just tell him to stooooop!" The thief begged before the Dinobot leader did as told, leaving him a shivering wreck. 

"You no steal again, got it?!" Grimlock demanded before the thief took off, screaming in terror and ranting about killer robots and tanukis. "Um, Michy? What a Tanuki? Is that like a puppy?"

"Doesn't matter." She replied. "I'm not a Tanuki. I'm a raccoon. I mean human!" She corrected herself before putting a finger to her chin. "Rabbit Town...can't be too hard to find, right?"

"Yeah! We find it together! We strong as duo! Beat up bad guys who take wallet!" Grimlock exclaimed.

"Aw, c'mon. How hard could it be getting in and out of a part of this place? It's actually kinda small compared to where I used to live." She claimed...before they shortly reached their destination, which was, for lack of a better term, A DUMP. The gate was all rusty and in disarray, while every building was dark and potentially hiding something or someone that would jump out and kill you. "Okay, I was imagining something a lot less...depressing."

"Yeah! Where Petro-Rabbits?! Me always wanted to see Petro-Rabbits!" Grimlock complained, earning a confused look from his friend. "Kup tell stories about when he found them. Me Grimlock love Kup's stories!"

Before she could ask why he was talking about a cup or whatever, a group of female beastmen were already in front of them, all looking fit and far from friendly. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up as a beast!" One of them began before they saw that the Dinobot from yesterday was with her. "You think bringing in this guy gives you a pass to take on all of us?!

"Wha?! No! I'm just here to see...you wouldn't happen to know a 'Gran Grandma', right?" Michiru asked, prompting the others to turn into their beastman forms and snarl, but Grimlock roared back before actually looking rather meek. "Grim! Help me out here!"

"Me can't! Me no hit girls!" He said rather guiltily.

"WHAT?!" Everyone, even Michiru shouted.

"You think we're so weak just because we're women, do you?!" A lioness beastman shouted, pointing at him before grabbing a nearby piece of metal and bending it with ease. "That's you if you make another sexist remark like THAT!"

"But...me Grimlock never fight girl Decepticon before! Me not know if it rude." He protested before Michiru cleared her throat, wanting to diffuse this awkward situation as soon as possible.

"Just...take us to Gran Grandma. We don't want any trouble." She said, sweating profusely at the thought of these clearly powerful people going to town on them.

"Then why are you in your beast form?! Turning into one means you're ready for a fight. SHOWING UP like that means you're looking for one!" The lioness explained angrily. "Or do you mean to tell me you're a baby who doesn't even know how that works?! I see it in your eyes! You're clueless!"

"SHUT UP!" Grimlock stomped his foot. "Michy not clueless! Michy want help! Give help or Grimlock break rule!" Michiru just nodded quickly, the escalation of the situation almost inevitable.

Thankfully, the gang was courteous enough to just lead them to the rather plump yet oddly powerful smoking rabbit sitting on a throne in the town's main building. Even Grimlock managed to fit in when they arrived. "So...you've come looking for your lost wallet based on a hunch?" Gran said, her tone neutral and full of disinterest.

"Uh...yeah! That's it! I can also prove I was human too! My student credentials, blood-transfusion report, everything." Earlier, she tried to explain that, only to get a chorus of laughter from everybody else (part of the reason they didn't just up and waste our heroes). She saw the rabbit get out a wallet from between her breasts, causing her eyes to widen in joy. "That one!"

"Hooray! We go home now. This place stinks." Grimlock said before getting closer to Gran, prompting everybody else in the room to prepare to pounce on him. "Are you...Petro-Rabbit?"

"Hm?" She looked up at the big dinosaur lug. "No idea what you're talking about." She then looked past the Dinobot, not even caring about the fact that he could easily end her, and looked to Michiru. "You said you were a student? Meaning you can read and write?"

That caught the Tanuki girl off-guard. "Uh...like everybody else?" Her face dropped. After dealing with Mary's bullcrap, she knew EXACTLY what was coming...maybe.

"Then there's a favor I have to ask of you, then I'll gladly give this back." She stated. "You're good people, are you? There are some children that live in my town that have been orphaned one way or another. Betrayed by both man and beastman. I do take in LOST things, after all. But I don't want to neglect them in the studies they need to survive in the actual world beyond base beastmen rules. I need somebody who can teach them. For the just-as-lost women here are loyal, but..."

"It's true. I never passed second grade." The lioness said shamefully.

"Says you, Elsa! I didn't study in my classes! They studied ME!" An emu beastman exclaimed.

The duo just looked at each-other in confusion. "Wait a minute! Are you saying you want me to teach them how to read and write? As in...?" She looked out a window, seeing a classroom within one of the buildings filled with small rowdy kids.

Grimlock gasped, but not out of horror or shock. He did so in joy. "Wait there!" He shouted before rushing out, smashing into a nearby thrift store. Everybody waited to see what he was doing, until he came back in, wearing a baseball a cap, a t-shirt with an explosion saying "DINO-MIGHT!", and a torn backpack around his arms. "Me Grimlock going to SCHOOL! Me never gone to school before!"

"That's not shocking..." Michiru muttered, chuckling a bit at his cheesy get-up and rather childish attitude towards this. But at least somebody was going to enjoy this deal. "Fine. But only for a day. Two, if I'm feeling generous."

"That's the spirit. Give those little guys a better future than what they were given." Elsa said, almost too smugly to be considered truthful.

"Good. Maybe your friend here can also learn complete sentences." Gran said, it being hard to tell if she was being sarcastic or genuine with that expression. "Best of luck...you'll need it."

When they got there, Michiru took a deep breath as she entered the brighter room filled with the children, only for it all to go quiet with fright when Grimlock squeezed his way in. "Hiii! Me Grimlock new kid on block! Me get best seat!"

"Wha...how...why?!" The sporty one stammered, unaware of the wonderful wacky world of animation errors/scale mishaps that plagued G1 that showed up at convenient times or just all-around weird moments. Either way, the children were intimidated easily by the bigger being in the room, still in dino-mode. 

He looked around, confused as they huddled to each-other in fear. "Me Grimlock no want to hurt classmates. Me want to play and learn! Michiru teach us how to read and write! Hopefully, not as boring as me really think!" He gestured to the flustered Tanuki.

"Y-y-yeah! I'm...basically your teacher!" She gave a shaky thumbs-up before whispering in the Dinobot's ear. "Don't you think you're a bit old to act like this?"

"But me Grimlock only twenty! Never went to school once." He explained. 

At this point, she was just about done with all of the surprises. First everything before, now the reveal that her friend was two years above her incoming age of 18 despite his size and deep voice?! Questions for later. She just clapped her hands and moved to the blackboard. "Today, we're going to learn about hiragana! Is everybody ready?" The class, now in human form, looked disinterested, though they were wary of the sitting Dinobot, whom was smiling like an idiot as he prepared to learn. 

However, he quickly tilted his head when he saw what she was writing. "Huh? Those not letters! They weird lines over lines! Not like 'A', 'B', or 'C'!"

"Does that mean you're not Japanese?" One kid asked.

"Nope! Me built in America." He pointed out before looking at the screen. "Me think me Grimlock made huge mistake."

And so, the day continued, but with far more success when Michiru got every student to write their names the right way. Apparently, they really liked that concept, but Grimlock seemed to be a hopeless case when it was his turn. Learning a new language is hard, but learning one while ALSO not quite grasping basic English is harder. So, as he held the chalk, he began to shake, worried that everybody was laughing at him behind his back. "It's okay, Grim. You're doing great." Michiru encoraged, resting a hand on his thigh. "Gah...rim...lah...ock..."

"G...Gri...m...lah...ock!" He finished, raising his hands in victory. "Yes! Me Grimlock smart! Eat it, Perceptor! Now, me Grimlock want to help with reward for everybody. Who want to hear me Grimlock's stories from back at home?"

"Sure!" She replied, as she didn't want anybody here getting bored anytime soon. "You see, Grimlock comes from a place far away. Maybe...even outer space!" She dramatically said, grabbing their attention for sure.

"Yeah. Me go to space to save universe! Want to hear about how me Grimlock defeated Primacron? Me call it...Call of Primatives!"

_**Some time later...** _

"And then, me Grimlock flip trouble-making wimp's switch, destroying Primacron forever! Me Grimlock save not just universe, but also friends and from brink of death!" He tore up a crudely done picture of Primacron for emphasis. "And then me Grimlock destroy lab in what Sky-Lynx call 'happy accident'."

As Michiru was told about the legendary Ginrou, one student raised a picture of his own. "Ooh! Ooh! Is this what the other Dinobots look like? They sound just as cool as you!"

When he got a good look, he actually seemed to get...sad. "Oh. That...that am them. There's me..." He pointed to a rather nice-looking Tyrannosaurus before moving onto the other dinosaurs. "And there's Slag...Sludge...Swoop...Snarl...me really miss them. Me hope they're okay." He sagged. "Me Grimlock strong, but can't be there all of time. That thing about being strong. It nice, but what good if you cannot protect?"

Michiru, whom was also listening in on that after catching a glimpse of Shirou out the window, walked over to him. "That's the thing, Grim. Kids, I know the common beastman rule is that you should always fight each-other and settle things with nearly killing somebody, but Grim's living proof that you don't have to be a bully to be strong. Sometimes, actually helping people makes a difference in your life. Otherwise, he wouldn't have so many friends...like me." She gave him a nod and a proud smile.

Needless to say, the Dinobot leader was quite touched, putting his hands on his snout as he almost visibly blushed. "Nah, you just say that. Me Grimlock just awesome-est. But...yeah. Me Grimlock not bully. Me Grimlock hero! And so can you! And you! And you, and you, and you..."

_**Later that night...** _

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"NO."

"Are we there yet?"

"Ginrou-dammit, NO!"

"....."

"....finally."

"Are we there-"

"AAAAUGH!" Elsa roared, turning to the robotic Tyrannosaurus in beastman form. "NO, NO, AND NO! I swear...MEN! If they're not assholes, they're complete dumbasses!"

"Me Grimlock not dumbass! Me king!" He argued as they walked along the pier, still in Rabbit Town, but getting far away from the school. "Where we going again? Is kitty sure that treasure here?"

Her last nerve nearly gone, the lioness beastman took a deep breath. "Yes. It's almost here. Your friends will be very happy to see that you found yourself treasure for them to share." In her mind, she knew to get this destructive beast as far away as possible from the operation about to take place.

"But what about Michy?" He asked before his nose picked up on something.

"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. It's a surprise." She groaned. "No wonder Gran didn't allow me to teach the kids. I wouldn't last a minute with this stuff."

"You kid once. You should know better." Grimlock waved a finger before sniffing again, smelling something familiar and...deadly.

Her eyes just narrowed as she crossed her arms. "Trust me. I was never a kid. Never had a chance." Suddenly, her tail was pulled back to where Grimlock was hiding behind a stack of crates. "What?! How dare you-"

"Shhhh! Bad robot here! Kitty may be in trouble if she make more loud noises." Grimlock whispered before they slowly looked out to see what the ruckus was about. Sure enough, a giant red/orange mechanical bull had rammed through several crates, angrily tossing them overhead and even ripping some apart with his horns. "Cannot be..."

"One of yours?" Elsa asked.

"No. That Tantrum! Predacon! What Predacons doing here too?" Grimlock openly wondered before turning to the lioness. "Maybe he here to steal treasure too! But...what Predacons do with gold anyway? Can't eat it. Can't hunt it."

Inwardly, Elsa was cursing herself for not bringing a phone or something to call Gran to inform her of the situation. One giant robot was bad enough, but two? And apparently, this one was a berserker. One that could easily kill her beloved boss during one of his...well, tantrums. Speaking of which, the Predacon smashed a crate before seeing a bunch of empty vials come out of it. "Finally. This was taking forever!"

Suddenly, Grimlock hoisted Elsa on his head before stepping back. "Me Grimlock have plan! Think like Predacon! Chaaaarge!" With that, he rushed forth, his head outwards.

"The hell do you think you're doing?!" She shouted as they neared the mechanical carnivorous bull.

"Wha-" SLAM! The Decepticon was pushed into more crates before getting back on all fours. "YOU! Where can I go where you stupid Dinobots don't follow?!" 

"You smell bad! How can me Grimlock not follow!" The Dinobot countered, Elsa gripping onto his head for dear life. "We fight together, then we find treasure and give it to nice children and maybe petro-rabbit, too!"

She responded by jumping off of him and brushing herself off before finding herself face to snorting face with the oversized bull. "Hmph. I knew men were bull-headed, but this is ridiculous. Alright...I can kill a few minutes against you." She got into a fighting stance, ready to pounce on him and tear him apart.

"Hmmm...boss was right. This place IS full of worthy prey! Mouthy, but worthy!" Tantrum said, confusing Grimlock a bit with the first one. How did Razorclaw know? Or was it a different boss? Galvatron?

However, as he mused over that, he accidentally stepped on a rather sizable pile of rubble. "Hm?" His nose was picking up another thing. A far more welcoming smell at that. "Me Grimlock think he found treasure! Right, kitty?"

Too late. Tantrum was already locking horns with Elsa's claws. "You know what happens when a bull tries to handle a lion?! Same thing always!" She growled before she was lifted up, only for her to keep her grip and flip the bull down on his back.

"GAH! You're strong, but I'm stronger! _TANTRUM, **TERRORIZE!**_ " He shouted before bellowing and transforming into his sword-wielding robot mode. "Now, prepare to get crushed, fuzzball! RARGH!" With that, he swung his sword down, only to miss.

As they fought, Grimlock began uncovering what was below the rubble. "Let's see what me Grimlock can find..." Several minutes of background mayhem going on later, the Dinobot leader started to see something a lot more familiar poking out. A sheet of metal? No, metal wasn't both gray AND yellow...it was a wing! With a gasp, he dug faster and faster until he saw a familiar face revealed in dinosaur mode.

"Nnng...me Swoop no want to go to to training exercise..." The higher-pitched voice Dinobot muttered before he was suddenly pulled from the realm of dreams by Grimlock holding him up.

"SWOOP! Am me Grimlock happy to see you!" He exclaimed, while Elsa and Tantrum were in a big ball of violence (look it up, kids), too distracted. "Where have you been? Where other Dinobots?"

The robotic Pteranodon got back on his feet, shaking his head. "No see them. Me Swoop land here all of sudden, then take biiiig nap. Me all perked up now." He looked around before seeing the fight take place. "Me Swoop not know Razorclaw had kittens."

"Nope. We got to see new friend now. Me Grimlock trying to find other Dinobots with help of new friend, Michy. Come on! Let's go!" He pointed back to the school, where the two reunited Dinbots rushed towards, almost Swoop had the advantage of taking to the skies. If Elsa knew what was happening, she would have chased after them, no questions asked.

It was Swoop who peered down and saw a crane carrying what sounded like a screaming cargo. Screaming that sounded like...kids?! "Uh-oh! Innocent people in trouble! Me Swoop help!" He was slightly surprised in mid-flight when a pair of stretchy arms came out to rock the thing back and forth, said arms strangling the guy controlling the thing. "Whoa...what did Swoop eat last night?"

Grimlock, panting heavily, arrived as well, only to also witness that sight. "Gah! Killer noodles! Wait...those arms...Michiru?! What she doing in there?!"

Gran Grandma and her cronies turned to them, the older woman's eyes narrowing. "Ah. You again." She looked up. "And you brought company. A shame. None of this would have to happen if you were here minutes ago. Could have convinced Don to make some use of you and your kind. But, alas...we need to stick to the plan."

"What you doing?! Let Michy and other friends go!" Grimlock demanded. "Or am me Grimlock gonna have to get stomping big FAT liars?!"

Gran just snapped her fingers, prompting the other beastmen to pounce on him, causing him to stumble and fall, doing his best to fight them off. As that was happening, Michiru finally managed to get the crate they were in off the crane...only for it to start falling down a la gravity and a broken crane. As they fell, Swoop flew in and grabbed the thing before it could fall. "Nnng...me Swoop...save day!" With that, he landed it safely.

Michiru, whom had covered herself and the kids in a fluffy ball made of her tail, peeked her eyes out, only to see a giant mechanical pterosaur burn through the bars with his breath. "What the?! Who are...wait...you look like somebody Grim mentioned." She commented as she and the kids were freed.

"You must be new friend. Me Swoop happy to help!" He exclaimed. " _SWOOP **TRANSFORM!**_ " He shouted before turning into his robot mode. Unlike Grimlock, he had an actual human-like face, but the kibble showed he was his own Dinobot. "Quick! Me Swoop get you to safety!"

"Right! Wait, where's Grim?" The Tanuki girl asked before seeing him getting mobbed by the female beastmen. Even shooting fire breath at them didn't stop them from grabbing his arms and tail, holding him down. "HEY! Let him go!" She rushed towards the chaos, only to be punched in the stomach by a crony.

"A true pity, indeed." Gran sighed. "Make it quick. Destroy the monsters in any way you can." However, she was interrupted when Swoop jumped high into the air, slamming his sword down. 

"Me Swoop beat up bad guys! **TRANSFORM!** " Turning into his Pteranodon mode, he divebombed the masses, breathing fire down upon them and causing them to scatter, though he did manage to singe a bunch. He continued to patrol the skies like an angry bird of prey before Grimlock got up and began breathing fire everywhere.

"BAD GIRLS LIE TO ME GRIMLOCK! YOU WANT ME GRIMLOCK TO START HITTING GIRLS?! ME NO DO THAT! ME **BURN** THEM!" He roared, destroying the crane entirely in the process before both Dinobots were staring down Gran, growling and snarling.

She raised her ends, knowing to give up. "Be nice to your elders. I surrender."

"I was hoping you'd do that." Another voice joined in. It was Shirou in human form, walking between the two robots. "I guess I wasn't exactly needed to curb any opposition. Now...your new home awaits in prison."

Though Grimlock really wanted to burn this bunny alive for what she did, he relented as well. "Yeah, stupid petro-rabbit not worth it. Me help friend!" He lifted the body of Michiru in his arms, shaking her around. "Please, Michy! Speak to me!" The other kids crowded around him, equally as worried for their teacher. She stirred, showing that she was still alive and slowly coming awake. "Ah, Michy just tired."

"She very brave. She save children like us Dinobots." Swoop said as the kids gave him attention too. "Hello! Me Swoop happy to help!"

Shirou just looked at this and sighed. Clearly, things weren't going to get easier the addition of ANOTHER Dinobot. Still, there was a duty to uphold. He'd question why Michiru was in the middle of Rabbit Town later. Not that he cared. She and the idiotic warrior ruined their chances of registrating this day. They'd have to go to their stay in shame and wait until tomorrow. 

**_Several minutes later..._ **

That very much would not be the end of it. Tachiki was being stared at by the Dinobots in their robot forms while he loaded the prisoners in. He had just had to explain to Michiru that the kids would be safe and now she as also nearing the car. "You two...I must say. I've been on the force for years. Never seen anything like you two."

"Yeah. We better than good. We kick butt before anybody else!" Grimlock flexed his arms. 

"Yep. Bad guys run home to bigger bad guys. We just glad bad guys going away forever." Swoop nodded. "But we find other Dinobots soon. Maybe stop bigger crimes."

"Erm...yes. Sure. Just don't burn everything in sight." Tachiki nervously looked at all of the singe marks all around. "Fire-breathing robot dinosaurs that can turn into robots...who would have ever thought..."

The two looked at each-other before Grimlock chuckled. "Me like it when they do that. Me fill you in later. For now...payback!" He stomped over to where Gran was being loaded, cracking his knuckles. "You lie to me Grimlock! Hurt Michy! Now, you apologize!"

As if on que, Michiru also ran up to the car to berate the trafficker. "How could you do this?! Where's your heart?! Selling beastmen children...that's far than just criminal! That's utterly soulless!"

"Me Swoop agree! Me no like you!" The younger Dinobot yelled.

Gran just took it in stride. "I...see. You may be more human that I thought." That made the three exchange looks in confusion. "Live life as a woman beastman for long enough and you'll understand the desperation. For now...feel free to live your life." She tossed Michiru back her wallet before she was carted away at last. "Hm...seems like I forgot someone...she's probably doing well by her lonesome. Away from this."

As soon as they left, Michiru turned to the two, remembering how Grimlock had been tricked by the others into going on a so-called 'treasure hunt'. "Hey, Grim, I'm really glad you found your friend, but...try to remember that when in suspicious territory, don't let your guard down." 

"Me try to remember next time. But me Grimlock still find friend. So, day not all bad. Plus, for brief shining moment, me Grimlock got to experience being at school." He stated. "Me also want to see stretchy arm trick again!"

Instead of replying to that, she opened up her wallet, revealing her identity. "There. Proof that I'm human. But...I'm really glad you believed me the whole way through." She gave him a soft smile. "You're a good friend, Grimlock." She then turned to Swoop. "And I bet you are...Swoop, was it?"

"Yep! Me Swoop good Dinobot! Me now going to catch breeze. It right time of night!" With that, he transformed and flew into the skies, screeching all the way.

They watched him fly off, almost forgetting about what happened today before Shirou was behind them. "What were you two doing there to begin with?"

"Well, we looking for Michy's wallet and-"

"Why...why did you just stand there...did you know...did you know we were going to be sold?!" The tanuki angrily turned to the wolf beastman. "Well?!" Grimlock was surprised by this sudden mood-shift, but he too was starting to think the same thing. If he WAS watching, then why didn't he step in?!

"...I was there, but there was no evidence. Catching her in the act was the best solution." He stated, as if it were that simple.

That did little for her, even to the point of angrily weeping as she continued to rail on him, causing the Dinobot next to her to put a hand to his mouthplate. "Then what if you missed?! What if we got sold or if Grim got torn apart?! WHAT IF YOU KEPT NOT-SAVING US?!"

"...I never miss. I swore to protect all beastwomen and children." He said again.

"HA! Me Grimlock would have stopped bad people if me Grimlock knew like YOU did!" He booped the protector's nose with his finger. "You stupid and lazy! Make us do all work! And now...you make friend cry! You bad hero! Bad!"

He simply ignored him. "You are far too naive to be calling me bad. My work has been flawless in the pursuit of justi-" He was stopped dead in his tracks when Michiru thrust her wallet into his face, showing her identity at last. His shocked expression said it all.

"Not so smart now, huh?" Grimlock almost mocked.

"Look at that! Even somebody with half a brain like my friend got it!" Michiru continued, now even more incensed by this 'holier-than-thou hero' attitude more than ever. "'Never miss'...you know what?! I HATE BEASTMEN AND THIS DAMNED CITY! The moment I get this disease cured, I'm going home back to where the humans are and never looking back!" She stopped, breathing heavily as she let it all out.

Grimlock, however, seemed hurt by those words. "But...city not too bad. It just have bad guys like any other city." He stood tall, narrowing his mono-optic to the sky. "Which is why it need me Grimlock more than ever. Me find Dinobots AND save city from bad people. Become hero for real!"

"Don't bother...these beastmen...they're too happy with how things are..." She panted, still angry until her chin was lifted by a metal finger.

"Never give up. Optimus Prime taught others that entire life. Beastmen good, but some bad. Were kid beastmen bad? Were they?" He asked, causing her to stop. She remembered, yes, that they acted like kids just like her. It's just that she was painfully aware what other beastmen could turn them into. But...it did give her something to mull over in the face of what she just claimed. "That what me Grimlock thought. We just try little bit harder and we go very far."

Instead, she just rested her head against his leg, prompting him to kneel and pat her head in the most gentle way he could. "You're too good for this city. I don't care if you're kinda dumb. You could make for a better protector if you set your mind to it."

Shirou just continued to watch before looking back at the ID and mulling over what just happened...before a fish landed on his head, grabbing the other's attention. "Not...a word." He sighed before turning away.

All Grimlock did was give a thumbs-up to Swoop, who still had a few fishes in his mouth while in the air.

_**"THE TRANSFORMERS WILL RETURN AFTER THESE MESSAGES"** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Swoop has joined your party, Grimlock! Now, all you have to do is help calm down Michiru a bit more. Also, I got in touch with an artist and I think I may be able to get this fanfic some art. Who knows? Also, yeah. Vector Prime, at some point in his career, said animation errors/scale mishaps were canon due to a number of reasons, like Unicron or Quintessons looking into time/space.
> 
> Up Next: Mary and company enter Decepticon City, while Grimlock and the others deal with a trip to the hospital. It goes about as well as one might guess. Also, Elsa learns of what went down and, somehow, this doesn't end with Tantrum getting a fist where the sun don't shine...


	4. Mary in the Big Stinkin' Decepticon City

_**"WE NOW RETURN BACK TO THE TRANSFORMERS"** _

_**Meanwhile, deep below the waters, one day earlier...** _

Wipe-Out was a Decepticon of simple desires. Follow his one true master, regardless of orders. Maybe that's just the way he was built. So, when it came to his master's plan, hiring three organics, regardless of species, wasn't too much of a bad deal. He stayed in vehicle mode as he drove towards the lake. "So...is there a robot that turns into a boat or something?" Haku asked, still unsure about this whole thing. 

"No way, dude. Just stick with me and don't be a cyber-chicken." Wipe-Out reacted. "How about you, babe?"

"Mary will do." The mink said simply, not in the mood for slang like that.

"Nah, not you. I mean the REAL babe in the trunk." He corrected. 

Wayu snorted in slight shock. Was the walking talking car FLIRTING with her? "Hmph. Don't think flattery will let you off easily. You shot at us, remember?"

"Yeah, but in hindsight, that was some wicked move you used! Ramming a Decepticon's legs at full speed? Radical...anyway, hope you can hold your breath for half a minute! Here we go!" He went full speed towards the lake.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Even Mary was caught off guard when they all drove straight into the water, forcing them all to hold their breaths as told. Wipe-Out let out a 'WHOOOO!' as he drove further. Something wasn't right and they would notice if all three weren't panicking due to possibly drowning. The lake was a lot deeper...A LOT deeper then they usually would be told. As he continued to go further, the lake's floor suddenly opened up to a private tunnel, finally allowing them all to breath. 

"So, how was that, dudes?" Wipe-Out asked. The trio were shivering in him, cold and wet. "Eh. Saw that one coming. But that's not the coolest bit yet!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! YOU NEARLY DROWNED US!" Haku screeched, standing on top of him and even kicking down before one of the robot's arms transformed to get him back in his seat.

"You could have at LEAST warned us!" Mary narrowed her eyes as she looked upon her wet fur. "Are all of you robots this dense?"

"What do you mean 'ALL' of us robots? Nah, nevermind. Tell it to the boss, dude." Wipe-Out said before cutting to the chase and moving forth through the tunnel. Despite her grousing, she had to admit. Mary wasn't expecting there to be some kind of system within the underground of the normally inconspicuous body of water surrounding Anima City. This could actually be interesting and, to her relief, there was a large vent ahead that dried everybody off with a blast of hot air.

"Boss! Look!" Wayu pointed. Before them was the entrance to what looked like a humongous black/purple/slightly green and yellow fortress with a few towers sticking out. It was rather blocky and hard to describe, like some kid pressed several rectangular structures together and called it a day. One each side were two long arm-like attachments that seemed to serve no other purpose than to add more turrents to the thing. Oh, yes. This was packed to the gills with offensive weaponry that locked onto the Decepticon driving towards the entrance, though nothing came of it.

"You know, it's times like this that there really is a benefit from asking questions before we rush into things." Haku sighed. "So, how long has THAT been there?" Even Mary and Wayu conceded to his point, waiting for an answer before they entered, revealing a sprawling mass of towers, roads, and various mechanical bits all around them. There was no ceiling, revealing the rocky wall above them. NOW, from the inside, it was like that same kid that put those rectangles together put a stock LEGO floor in the middle and stacked whatever he could in it to resemble a metropolitan town...or a really basic one, since all of the buildings/structures looked bland onyx black.

The doors opened as the massive gate behind them closed, prompting the trio to leave. " **WIPE-OUT, _TRANSFORM!!!_** " The Decepticon shouted before turning into robot mode. "Welcome, dudes...to Decepticon City!" He spread out his arms dramatically. "Eh? What do you think of that?"

"...it's boring." Mary spoke her mind. "Where is everybody?"

"It's boring?! You just stepped into a whole new city right under your organic noises and that's all you have to say? Not cool, dude!" Wipe-Out crossed his arms. 

"Don't get me wrong. You misinterpret!" Mary said with a fake-pleasant voice. "I'm just saying that, compared to where I reside, this place seems rather empty. It's also more of a 'fortress' than a city, don't you think? Where are the people? The commodities? The anything? Simple questions, no?"

"You've got a smart mouth for such a little mammal." Wipe-Out narrowed his mono-optic, earning her ire once more. "Did you know this whole place was retrofitted from a city made by humans? That alone should drop a few jaws!"

"If you mean 'made by humans', we're still not impressed." Wayu said. "Answer me this. What's that building for?" She pointed to one of the tall structures. 

That actually made the robot pause. "Um...uh...that's for...shooting things? Kinda like that building? And that one. And I'm not sure what that does...Oh, babe, here comes Full-Tilt!" On cue, a humongous building-sized purple go-kart or however else you could describe the big-wheeled almost-flat vehicle drove up before slowly transforming into a behemoth of a bot, standing as big as a house, if not bigger. "How goes the lookout, my dude?"

"ALL HAIL OUR MASTER." The titan saluted before transforming back, leaving the trio once again slack-jawed. 

"Oh, yeah. That's Full-Tilt. He's like, literally, the center of attention of our master. He's got a good head on his shoulders, though there's nothing much in it. I mean, wow. I wish there was nothing in my head, dudes. That way, the master would command me better." Wipe-Out commented.

"...anybody else?" Haku spoke up.

"Well, there's Brunt, but he's just a massive tank we have. He's uber-powerful, but he doesn't talk all that much...not sure if he transforms either...one of life's great mysteries!" That surfer-accent was starting to grate on them. 

"Get to the point. Time is money and we don't have much of either!" Mary demanded, losing patience with the postulating these walking toasters were doing. "Why did you jack our supplies and why would you need us?"

To answer her question, Wipe-Out opened the crates from the warehouse. Inside, there were decorations for various holidays, both human and beastman. Everything from plastic jack-o-lanterns to Valentines Day hearts to Christmas Lights to Garou memorabilia. "This answer your question?" The giant robot gestured to the supplies.

"Uh, yeah, we see that, but why?" Wayu asked, snorting in derision.

"Don't question the master, babe!" Wipe-Out pointed. "Because he-"

" **SIIIIIIIIIILENCE!** " A monstrously deep voice reverberated across all of Decepticon city, knocking the beastmen to their feet and causing Wipe-Out to get on his knees. Even Full-Tilt, the absolute gargantua of a mech, backed-up to his post in a hurry. "I sense that it is not just my idiotic lackeys that are here...but organics! Explain this, Wipe-Out!"

"M-m-m-m-master! Oh, sorry, master! Your awesomness! Your invincible-ness! Dude of dudes! Embodiment of Dea-"

"SPARE ME, you steel-plated sycophant! Do as you are told, which is nothing!" The voice roared again. "I want to hear it from those who dare step foot in my form!"

Haku and Wayu turned to Mary, who just gave a sigh of derision. Clearly, she was getting tired of this rather than intimidated. "Listen...whoever's in charge...you're clearly not worth my time. I have places to be, bucks to make, and opportunities to be had. I doubt somebody who's currently hiding in a city is a worthwhile investment, unless you speak quickly with an offer."

"You are...presumptuous to think I cower in this city." The city itself started to quake. "I, for your information... **AM THE CITY!** " A Decepticon symbol glowed on the ground covering most of the cityscape. "I was once a city made by humans, but now, I am a product of Galvatron's evil and Cybertron's technological might. I am devastation! I am hatred! I am _**TRYPTICON!**_ " A large section of the city started to shift, parts moving around with horrible creaking noises and with the cave up above crumbling with just the movement. Before they knew it, one of the parts of the city had turned into a massive three-fingered claw, thick and looking ready to smash before it transformed back.

"The city's alive...the city's alive...I promise never to take drugs again, dad..." Haku crawled into a sitting position, forcing Wayu to pat him on the head.

Mary blinked a few times. This certainly was impressive and, come to think, if this guy rose and transformed into...whatever he was, it would mean really bad things for both human and beastman alike. But those were of little importance to her. She needed to cut a deal. Maybe calm him down somewhat before anything reckless happened. So, she started walking further into Decepticon City, ignoring the few shifting structures and even guns trained on her while the others cautiously followed behind. Even Wipe-Out looked confused. No organic had ever been this bold.

"Listen, Trypt...can I call you Trypt?"

"NO. If you have nothing useful to offer, get out, organic vermin! I am looking upon your form already and...hm...not human...but..." He paused for a long while, as if taking in her true form for longer than he would have normally done. "Hmmmm....erm..." Wipe-Out's mono-optic nearly bugged out. Did the all-mighty Trypticon get flustered for a moment? But normalcy soon came. "You are nothing more than a walking rat in a dress! BEGONE!"

Now, the thing with people mistaking Mary for a weasel. It was annoying and it incensed her more than anything. But people calling her a rat...they often didn't see the light of day until roughly 24 hours later after a pain-induced coma. Her eyes widened for a moment before the claws and razor-sharp teeth came out. "Oh, no...he did it now." Wayu and Haku both said, cowering behind Wipe-Out.

"Dudes...should I call security or...?" The robot didn't know what to do.

"Listen to me and listen to me WELL, you barren pile of scrap and trash. Because I'm only going to say it once." Mary said in an awfully calm voice, yet even the arrogant and hate-filled Trypticon could feel the white-hot anger in that voice. "I came here not because I was cowed by your delivery boy, but because I allowed it. I go where I want and I certainly can HURT anybody who dares compare me with not just cheap-furred animals like goddamn WEASELS, but with depraved and repulsive stereotypes such as the Garou-forsaken RAT! So, here's how it's going to go!" She dug her claws into the steel ground, actually rending it. "You're gonna give us a good deal or we're leaving OR you continue to act like some kind of self-important asshole within five minutes of meeting us and I will rip you apart circuit by circuit, cable by cable, **BOLT BY BOLT** , _**ATOM BY ATO-**_ "

"ENOUGH!" Trypticon yelled once more. "Nobody organic has spoken to Trypticon that way before in my miserable history!"

"...then I guess it should please me to the first." Mary's eye twitched, ready to follow through with her threat.

"It is...bold. I like it. In fact, I relish in it!" That quickly put an end to anybody's fear/anger. Rather, they were all just confused. "And you do seem capable of following through with that threat. In the time it takes for me to transform, I suppose you might reach my spark and rend it asunder."

"That's the...idea? What are you playing at?" The mink raised a brow, her body returning to normal.

"Merely that I may have an idea in mind. A first, for a Titan that has done nothing but serve his whole existence. Wipe-Out! Bring the others closer! I wish for them to hear this." Trypticon continued.

The Decepticon nodded and corralled them to where Mary was before the tallest tower in Decepticon City shined a light on them all, flashing on and off whenever the thing they were standing on spoke. "From hearing you, you are the type of being who desires a reward, whereas I only desire...survival. For this...I offer you no riches, but I do offer you immense fame."

"Fame or infamy? Two different things and both are reasonably alright, but you'd better sound convincing. I don't just follow any big-talking guy. I've make deals above my height all of the time." She boasted. "As for my name, just call me Mary. Mary the Mink." She put the emphasis on the last word there, just in case he didn't get it, like she knew so many others did.

"Alright...Mary." Trypticon repeated. "You have a simple task. Bring me everything you can to...as Wipe-Out would put it...spice me up. For I was created to destroy, to conquer, to annihilate. But...since I was sent here, buried under the water...how ironic. I used to be thrown in there all of the time." He chuckled. A noise that just sent chills down the spines of the weak-willed. "Anyway, since I became imprisoned, unable to transform back due to a damaged T-cog...I have grown weary of my own existence. Once, I even thought of sending my only components to destroy everything they say."

"It's true! It was gonna be...a total Wipe-Out! Right boss?" The eponymous Decepticon raised a hand, only for a nearby turret to give him an electric shock. "Yep. I deserved that."

"AS I WAS SAYING...all my life I have felt nothing but hate. Hate at the pointless war and the insipid Autobots. But Wipe-Out, for all of his stupidity, DID manage to fix my processor. Now, I can speak in complete sentences, I have a voice of my own (literally and figuratively), and I have given myself a new purpose. To actually become a real city. A city in which people can live in. But to do that...I must first have the right supplies. As of now, I wish to keep my existence a secret for the most part. I don't want any organic here to bury me alive in this cave. To that end, I have sent Wipe-Out on missions to make me more presentable. But what if I have been approaching this from the wrong angle?"

Mary blinked before giving a knowing smirk. "And that's why you need us. You want the perfect angle to know how to attract people to your featureless and, frankly, depressing cityscape...which is also yourself. Keep in mind. With beastmen, you might find yourself with a lot on your hands...and face...and back...and wherever I'm standing on. Is this your back?"

"Correction. That's only a part of my chest." Trypticon replied. "Now, I want you to not only gather me supplies, but give me actual advice, maybe even bring people to live in me. Bring as much as you can. Steal, if you have to. I must gain purpose, no matter what. I do not even care if humans walk inside of me, as they once did before I gained sentience."

"Are we really gonna take orders from a humongous pile of scrap?" Wayu crossed her arms. "We're not charity cases, you know!"

"Baaabe! Think about it! You're serving THE Trypticon! This guy once leveled an entire city by sneezing, went toe-to-toe with entire Autobot forces by his lonesome, and even fought Metroplex to a stand-still on more than one occassion!" Wipe-Out got nothing but silence. "...shut up! Trypticon is cool!"

"Enough. I shall dispense the truth!" The city rumbled again. "Mary...think about it. I could even make you...'mayor', if that's what they call it. Mayor of Decepticon City. You shall have all of the money, if that's what you desire. All of the food, if that is what for all you hunger. All of the attention, if you crave it, so long as you do it in my name." Silence followed. "Do you still refuse me?"

The mink was putting several fingers to her chin before snapping her fingers. "Answer me this. Are there easier ways to get in and out of here? We can't just drown ourselves in the lake every time we need to head over. Not to mention, not many people will be keen on that, human or not."

"Wait a sec. He said something about us and humans sharing! Are you out of your mind?!" Haku yelled before turning to the others with a defeated expression. "I'm yelling at a city. I've officially gone insane."

"The mink speaks true." Trypticon admitted. "Wipe-Out, administer the devices. I suppose this means we have a deal, with the right tools, of course."

"Right you are, master-dude!" Wipe-Out handed the three of them badges that looked like Decepticon symbols, but thicker and with a huge button in the center. "This'll enable you to teleport from here to certain locations in that city of yours and back again. I warn you. They're prototypes, so they may not work if you abuse them for too long. Rest assured, my dudes, a friend of Trypticon is a friend of me. I'll try to be with you every step of the way! Heck, you can always crash here if you do a good-enough job."

The trio looked at them with a bit of suspicion, but Mary was already seeing potential in this strange alliance. "You've got yourself a deal, Trypt." 

"...the only reason I let you call me that is because I allow it." Trypticon sighed. "Excellent. Your first task? Help Wipe-Out with the decorations. I must be magnificent for my grand opening." For emphasis, the teal hulk of a Decepticon lifted a bunch of Christmas lights that got tangled up in him.

Mary just chuckled at the obliviousness of the two. "Oh, you silly fool. Those are for holiday and you're a hair off. I have a plan...but it means we'll have to be lucky." She put her claws together. "Imagine...I agree to a bonkers plan and I end up getting a free escape plan without having to run too far...this is too perfect." She said to herself.

"Your almost-treacherous thoughts are noted." Trypticon interrupted her. "But...I believe this is what you call 'symbiosis', rather than a partnership. Nevertheless, if you prove yourself, I shall be very pleased and will reward you handsomley, Right, Wipe-Out?" He got a salute in response and was about to say something else when another bolt fired at his feet. "Don't. I tire of your endless empty praise."

Wayu suddenly got the idea. "This place is basically gonna be our hangout? And it's our job apparently to make it less depressing? Ugh, fine. There's no rent here, barring those supplies?"

"No."

"We're in!" Both Wayu and Haku cried out. 

"Free health care?" Haku asked.

"Even when rampaging, I always thought it should be universal."

"We'd jump off a cliff for you!" They said again.

"Actually getting to see your face for a more interesting discussion?" Mary suggested half-jokingly. She rolled her eyes at her two lackeys. Such was the nature of cutthroats getting a seemingly better deal.

"...you are literally looking at it...but I can arrange something..." Trypticon was noting how his spotlight was focusing on the mink a little too much. Maybe it was the voice. The ambition in that oddly adorable face? The fur? What was going on? Either way, he hoped to get some results by the time this day was done...and some way to stop Wipe-Out from embarrassing himself from fruitlessly trying to hang up the lights on any building he saw.

_**A little later, during last episode...** _

Tantrum sure as heck wasn't counting on getting thrown around like a ragdoll today, less so from an organic. This feline-organic femme was CRAZY! Even he, the ever-angry one, was feeling rather cowed (PUN!). "H-h-hey! It's been hours! I never thought I'd say this, but calm down already!"

"Calm down?!" Elsa growled over the still burnt wreckage of the damage the Dinobots left behind during the scuffle we're all familiar with. "CALM DOWN?! I lost everything because I couldn't get to here in time! The boss has been captured, maybe even eaten by that damn robot as we speak, and those brats have gone missing too! I can smell the police all over here! If you hadn't distracted me, I could have-"

"Aw, shuttup! Just accept that Autobots ruin everything." Tantrum snorted in his bull mode, noting that one of his horns was bent. "But seriously. You were getting into this. Don't lie. Even if you knew, you couldn't resist trying to scrap me."

"...touche." There was a certain thrill from fighting something bigger than you that lived in Elsa, but her loyalty to the rabbit she pledged to was a bit stronger. To see that she had failed...she'd be lion (PUN! AGAIN! Too soon?) if she didn't feel any hot moisture brimming at her eyes. "Gone...all gone...DAMMIT!" She left several large claw-marks into the crane's support beams next to her. 

"You think you have it tough?!" Tantrum snorted. "I can't find any of my fellow Predacons! Sure, I don't need them to hunt, but what else am I supposed to do?! Hunt, but have nobody to eat with?! That's boring! I HAVE SO MUCH PENT-UP RAGE RIGHT NOW!" He roared, flames coming out of his nostrils before Elsa socked him in the face. "...huh. That made me feel a bit better."

She winced at his reaction before just slumping against a wall, hateful thoughts brewing in her mind. "That girl and her robot monster. If I ever see them again...there will be Hell to pay."

Tantrum just looked around and, having taken several blows to the head over many hours, just decided to go crazy in his own way. By sitting next to her like a normal bull would. "Life sucks. It's bad enough I share breathing space with pretty much anybody. Why do you think they named me 'Tantrum'?"

"I thought it was because your mother had good foresight." She groused, actually getting a chuckle out of him.

"You mean my Carrier? Nah, I was made off the assembly line by Megatron himself. Been stuck in a box until Galvatron showed up and released us. But...eh...you know what cheers me up?" The Predacon couldn't believe he was conversing with an organic like this, but hey. He could admire a creature with brute strength and, perhaps, it was the slight resemblance to Razorclaw? He hoped that didn't just awaken something within him related to his leader/big brother. "Good old fashioned revenge!"

"That's what I'm hoping for, idiot." Her eye twitched. "The problem is that it means either running into the law, that damned wolf that runs around all of the time, your braindead robot friends, or Flip's cronies."

"Sounds like a good time to me!" He raised his hooves. " **TANTRUM, _TERRORIZE!_** " He yelled before transforming into his robot mode. "But for now...I gotta take a nap." He flopped onto the ground, sleeping with his face in the ground.

Figuring it was safer than having to go out there and find even the dirtiest of trash cans to live in, she just slunk into as shipping container. "Whatever...hmph. And despite everything, you're still not the worst man I've have the displeasure of meeting." How she hoped, as some kind of silver lining, that hyena under Flip's employ would screw up big someday.

_**Back with our heroes...** _

Much of what happened that night had been a blur for Grimlock and Swoop. The latter of which had quickly settled to patrolling the skies, getting a bird's eye view of the city and even the neighboring human one. Currently, he was having way too much fun with it in the mornings. Sightings of Swoop were increasing, but, since he was no threat, it was assumed he was just another beastman catching the breeze (though a few humans did shoot at him, for all the good that does).

Grimlock, however, stayed in his alley, yet wished he could help his friend in whatever way he could. Michiru, he could tell, was still upset about pretty much everything. "Think, Grimlock, think! Me think hard...gggnnng...too hard!" He gave up before deciding on the next best thing. "Me Grimlock know! Me enter house!" He looked at the rather tiny door. "No, not here..." He stepped out, surprising a few passing by residents as he circled around the building. "Hmmm...?"

As he walked, he looked up to see Michiru's window open and her apparently conversing with a rooster beastman. "Heeeey! Good morning, Michy!" He called out, stomping up and down in robot mode and causing the building to shake.

"Gah!" What the heck?!" Michiru and Mr. Gem cried out, the rooster beastman having a tougher time maintaining his balance. 

"Hello!" He called out before getting on his tip-toes and managing to at least get his head to her window's level. "Feeling better, new best friend?"

She blinked a bit before giving him a small smile. "Yeah. A bit. I'm thinking of heading over the hospital over there to cure my disea-"

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!" Grimlock waved a finger. "Not disease. Me Grimlock remind you. Michy magic because of new powers!" He exclaimed.

"It may not be magic, I think, but ol' Grimlock here has a point. You can't just keep calling it a disease. I mean, what am I? Chopped liver?" Mr. Gem half-jokingly said.

"But...well, when you put it that way...whoops." She blushed in embarrassment. "Look, what you guys have is natural, but, what I have...it kinda ruined my li-" She heard something near the door. Sounded like...something was barricading her in. Based on the sudden drop in any joy present, it was Shirou's presence that entered the fray. "Give me a second..." She groaned.

When she turned away, Grimlock continued to jump up and down before stopping. "Awwww! Me Grimlock want in! Me find way, no matter what!" Ignoring the rooster's concerns about what exactly he was doing, he made a path for the large window on the side of the house. Standing up again and pressing the side of his head, he could hear Michiru's angered muffling and Shirou's monotone voice. "Don't worry, Michy! Me Grimlock will save you!" 

SMAAAASH!

Even Shirou, in the midst of putting his sofa against the door, was at a loss by the huge robot managing to fit inside at last with the wide room and the shattered window. "You! Fake hero! Let Michy go!"

"Finally! Somebody sane shows up in the nick of time!" Michiru yelled from behind the blocked door. "This guy's not just a phony, but he's crazy! He says he'll kill me if I step out to 'protect the peace of the Beastmen' or some pseudo-cool stuff like that!" 

"WHAT?!" Grimlock angrily turned to the perturbed wolf beastman. "Me Grimlock no like you even more!"

"Stay out of this, warrior. You'd be making a mistake if you'd let the word of hybrid human/beastmen spread." Shirou stood his ground.

Grimlock just narrowed his mono-optic, reaching for his sword. "Me Grimlock have just enough of you, fake hero! Me free Michiru, take her where she want to go, and be better heroes than you! Maybe turn you into leg-warmer!" Moving forward, he began to push the stuff away, only for Shirou to push it back with minimal effort. "Hey! Let her go!"

"She stays. It's for the greater good."

"GOES!"

"Stays."

"GOES!"

"Stays."

"GOOOOES!"

"....stays."

Michiru groaned in hopelessness as he heard the stuff shifting left and right as the two pushed against the pile. "It's always the jerk and the doofus. If those are the choices, I'd rather pick-"

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" An older feminine voice interrupted this rather childish display. Sure enough, Mayor Rose was standing before them. "I would leave you two to it, but there are more important matters."

"Oh. It's a pleasure to have you here, mayor." Shirou bowed.

"Nice to meet nice mouse lady in person!" Grimlock also bowed, accidentally hitting the pile in the process with his head.

She just chuckled at that. "I'm a Naked Mole Rat, but thanks anyway, Grimlock."

He gasped in shock. "NAKED?! This supposed to be kid's show...maybe. Me Grimlock not so sure anymore." He rubbed his chin before pointing to the door. "Fake hero trap best friend in room! Throw fake hero in jail before me Grimlock tear place apart!"

"You do that at your own risk." Shirou said with a glare. "Mayor, I humbly apologize. My associate here is...slow in the mind."

"Now, Shirou, it's not very honorable to mock others for whatever mental problems they have. For that, I think I'll have you both listen to my request." She moved to Grimlock and, almost in a motherly way, pressed a hand against his leg. "It's alright. Nobody here thinks you're slow. I'd bring a game for you to play, but I'm afraid I was too busy." She had her own personal reasons for her sympathy for those of Grimlock's IQ, but that's a story for later.

The previously upset Dinobot calmed down by quite a bit upon hearing that. "You really are nice. Me Grimlock will listen first before saving friend. What problem?" He sat down, leaning towards her. "Me listen!" Shirou joined him. And so, they were told of the bombings against Sylvasta Pharmaceuticals and how smell factored into it. Shirou had already agreed to assist, but Grimlock soon pushed him out of the way. "Me Grimlock once smell really bad stink from Sludge! Me Grimlock help! Be real hero!" He flexed his arms.

"I'm sure that would be appreciated, but we need somebody with Shirou's skills. You're...quite large for the task." Rose gently put him off.

"But...but..." If he had a lip, it would be quivering. "Me Grimlock wanna goooo!"

"YOU'RE FORGETTING SOMETHING!" The pile covering Michiru's room shook as all three's attention went there. "Somebody just get me out of here already! I'm being held hostage!!" Naturally, hearing about how the Sylvasta building was gonna get bombed before she could get her answers wasn't putting the tanuki girl at ease.

"Whoops! Me Grimlock solve problem!" With several swipes of his sword, all of the stuff fell to pieces, allowing Michiru freedom, though even she winced at the furniture with several burning cuts through them.

"Uh...that works." She commented. "Thanks, Grim."

"No problem, Michy!"

"That was an antique." Shirou's eye twitched at the burnt cabinet. Mayor Rose just sighed. And today was already stressful as it was, but like all actually-useful politicians, she was no quitter.

Upon being free, Michiru listed every wrong-doing she could of the wolf Beastman, with the resident Dinobot looming over him with his arms crossed and visor glaring. However, they didn't expect the bit about Rose knowing full-well about Michiru's origins. "That...makes things a lot easier. Listen!" The Tanuki stepped forth. "I want to come with you too. I can help you with the bombs! Take Grimlock too! He's the only one here I trust!"

"Yeah! Me Grimlock and Michy make good team!" He raised his fists up.

"A team of loose-cannons, is all I see here." Shirou pinched the bridge of his nose, though that didn't deter him at all.

"I...see. Might I ask why you want to come?" Rose raised a brow at this display. Cute as the duo were, this was serious. "Is it to find answers to your...condition?"

"Yes. Surely, the tech's cutting-edge enough." Michiru nodded, while also thankful there was a new term for what she had that wasn't 'disease', lest she make a fool of herself once more. 

"Even so, you would be allowing anti-beastmen to zero in on your location. I've already been getting reports that increased sightings of the Dinobots, as well as Dinobot-like machines, have been putting both sides at unease." Shirou stated. 

"Me Grimlock pound bad humans into ground! Me no afraid!" Grimlock argued.

"Shirou, I get what you're saying, but ever since I found myself like this..." Michiru's voice softened a bit as she remembered what it was like much earlier. "...I've been on the run for the longest time. Before then, I spent all of my life holed up in my room, even from my own parents. And from then on...I always had to watch my back. But now, when I have this chance to finally see things through...I'm not just gonna stand on by. I'm going in, no matter what." 

Before Shirou could say anything, Grimlock had his own tale. "Ooh! Ooh! Me Grimlock and other Dinobots live for longest time in cave when first built. Me Grimlock no like darkness and not being able to do anything. Me Grimlock say we go with or without fake hero."

"And that's just what will happen, seeing as how we're short on staff." The three turned to Rose. "Michiru, you can be the go-to contact for Kuro." The crow she was refferring to let out an almost-too humanoid cawing sound, almost creeping the Autobot and Tanuki out. "And you, Grimlock, can use yourself as an intimidation tool. So far, based on the incident in Rabbit Town, you can be quite the juggernaut, even against an entire group of beastmen."

"Me Grimlock strongest there is! We accept!" He pumped a fist.

"All I ask is that none of you reveal she used to be human. Oh, and to make sure you call Ogami when the time comes, here you go." Rose offered Michiru a smartphone, much to her delight.

"Yes! Oh, I missed you!" She hugged the small thing as Shirou scoffed while being given the bomb-piece needed for this.

"That not phone. Phones are banana-shaped!" Grimlock arched his mono-optic before he observed her scrolling through the apps. "Ooh! Can me Grimlock have turn? Please? Pleeaaaase? Me Grimlock not break it like other gizmos given!"

Michiru gave him a nervous glance. "Ehhhh...can't risk you breaking it over the Flappy Bird app this thing has. Why do they even have that?" She muttered under her breath. A few rounds and she'd be worried if she herself would break the phone in a fit of righteous anger while growing her arms to gorilla size or something.

"Oh, and could you two have the capacity for locking you up and threatening you?" Rose gave a soft smile, almost giggling at that awkward situation from before. The two just groaned. If Grimlock could roll his one optic, he would.

"Fine. We follow fake hero, but we DON'T follow fake hero." Grimlock pouted.

"Um...what?" Both Shirou and Michiru were both left confused.

_**Later that day...** _

The three of them looked at the tall building before them. Or, really, only Grimlock was the only one not paying attention. Shirou's explanation of Sylvasta and the humongous hospital in the distance had put him to sleep while he was in dino-mode. The wolf-beastman had to kick his leg to wake him up. "Huh-whu?! Me Grimlock was listening! Go to hospital, find bad-guys, find cure for Michy...me still no get why that need to happen." He crossed his arms at that last part, still wrapping his head around ridding herself of her beastman status. 

As Shirou sniffed the bomb, Michiru sighed. "I told you. I know it seems awesome, but I would like my old life back." She reminded. "Still...Shirou, you do realize that you're basically the mayor's dog if you're accepting a job like this despite only wanting the well-being of beastmen." He just ignored her, not a fan of jokes or even assumptions like that.

"Does doggy like pat-pats?" Grimlock asked innocently, placing a large metallic claw on his head, petting it through his rather soft fur. "Oooh! Me Grimlock li-" SMACK! "OW!"

Shirou's fist was none-the-worst-for-wear after punching that claw away. "Do...not...demean. It nearly ruined my concentration. And speaking of which..." He quickly got out his phone and contacted about six bombs littering the city. 

"Whoa...how did fake hero do that? Nose super-strong!" Grimlock said before Kuro flew to the air. "Huh?"

"No time. There might be a bomb at the hospital. The placement of each bomb is too chaotic and random for a possible plot against Sylvasta himself. Go there just in case." He instructed the two, to which they nodded.

"Leave it to us. Ready, Grim'?" Michiru climbed up his back. Chortling all the way, Grimlock ran through the streets, avoiding the various surprised residents. "Follow that crow!"

As Shirou considered the all-mighty equalizer known as Aspirin, two figures hid in a nearby alleyway close to the hospital. "There they go. The stupid Dinobot and some organic girl." Tantrum said, transforming into his bull-mode, snorting hot air as Elsa crouched below him.

"They're heading for the tunnel. Seeing as how the guard's incredibly lazy..." She resisted the urge to make another jab at men. "...we should have no trouble following. Then, we strike. We make them pay." He flashed an impressive set of teeth as she smiled. "I kinda like this. The thrill of the hunt..."

"That's what being a Predacon is all about." Tantrum snorted in agreement.

As for our two heroes, they also found themselves following Kuro into the tunnel at the base of the large hospital. "Alright, Grim'...we need to be stealthy about this..." The tanuki girl said as she dismounted, amazed that they managed to fit in, as well as stay unnoticed by the driver. Currently, they were waiting behind the truck, the Dinobot having to crouch to near comical levels.

"Me Grimlock wonder why we not just bash brai-MMPH!" He was shushed by her finger as they hid. 

"Pretend we're playing 'hide-and-seek'...except if we lose, keep in mind that I'm not made of metal." She imagined being riddled with either bullet holes or slashed apart wasn't a very good way to go. He nodded in agreement as they tried to listen in on the deal. Apparently, one was going on in this very area, but there was also something else that prove to be a complication. Her ears grew to that of a bunny's making Grimlock have to shut his mouth even more from gushing about how she had become a Petro-Rabbit.

"Hey! You know we can see you!" A hyena beastman yelled, noticing the ears. 

Michiru meeped in panic, realizing her mistake, but...then again. Giant dinosaur robot. "Grim'...get on our there." She hoped that the least that would happen was a couple of burnt tails and destroyed egos.

A second later, Grimlock's head came into view, roaring at the surprised gang as he almost stood up to his full height. "Me Grimlock no like bad guys! Me Grimlock smash!" He shouted, showing off his impressive set of teeth. 

"S-s-stay back!" A lanky-looking doctor warned, getting out a gun along with the other surprise beastmen. "This doesn't concern you!"

"Just fire! Fire away!" A crow beastman shouted, unloading his entire clip into the Dinobot's chest.

"Hahahahahaha! That tickles!" The Dinobot laughed before narrowing his eyes. "What in box? You tell now!"

"Uh...candy? Yeah, nothing to see here. Just...run off, will ya'?" The hyena beastman attempted to play it cool, catching onto how he was rather dim.

However, Michiru didn't have time to relax, as she felt a rumbling within the tunnel. Pretty soon, the entire group felt and heard it. In fact, it kinda sounded like a bull on a rampage. Which was kinda-sorta true, as Tantrum raced through the tunnel, Elsa on his back, before surging forth to ram his head into Grimlock's back, knocking him down and almost crushing the ill-gotten gains the group was peddling. "Oh, no! Grimlock!" She cried out before Elsa landed in front of her. "It's...you! From Rabbit Town!"

"Really? How'd you guess?" The lioness said sarcastically before getting out her claws. "You thought you could just leave what went down there behind? What happens in Rabbit Town STAYS in Rabbit Town. Besides, you made an enemy out of all of us from what you did to Grandma!" She prepared to bounced before Tantrum was kicked away by Grimlock, forcing her to duck and allowing Michiru to run. "HEY! You get back here!"

"Grim'! C'mon!" She called out, fleeing for her life by the crazed lioness-beastman.

Despite being plenty angry at the Predacon that had blindsided him, Grimlock knew that the life of his friend mattered more. "Grimlock beat you up later!" He pounded the bull's head into the ground with his tail before chasing after the two. "Wait for Grimlooooock!"

The lanky one and the rest of the gang all got up, the cargo they were selling off still intact. "Okay...that just happened." The hyena-beastman rubbed the back of his head. "I swear, what is this? Science-fiction or something? Ever seen anything as crazy as giant robots running around loose?" The irony of that statement did not grace him.

"That girl...the one that also eavesdropped...where have I seen her before?" The lanky one was starting to get a sinking feeling he had to confirm with his rhino-beastman colleague...

Back with our duo, Michiru had tried calling Shirou in vain, only to be trapped between a wall and a hardened criminal. Elsa raked her claws on the nearby wall as she advanced. "I hope you realize that what happens next is on your head."

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Michiru regained some of her pride in the face of getting shredded. "You're the crook, remember?! You nearly sold off those kids, me included!"

"We had no choice! Flip was gonna put my master in the ground if we didn't do as we were told! Believe me, what I wouldn't give to rip that smug grin off..." She closed her eyes before focusing back on her task. "But, for now, I'll settle with taking care of you. Maybe I won't kill you. Maybe I'll just rip your tail off and call us even. You take something away from me, I take something away from-"

SMASH! Grimlock's tail nearly took Elsa's head as it swung above her, as the Dinobot held Tantrum's horns in his claws. He breathed a stream of flames at the bull's back, but he was simply bucked into the air and kicked into the wall, nearly crushing Michiru. "Gah! Grimlock!"

"Me fine! Just...woozy. Hurt head." He clutched his skull as he struggled to get onto his feet.

"That might make you smarter if I do it a little more!" Tantrum joked before being smacked himself by Elsa's fist. "OW! What was that for?!"

"Watch it the next time you guys fight, okay?! You nearly beheaded me!" Elsa roared before shaking her head. "Whatever. Let's get this over with! Victory, my name is Elsa!" She lunged...only for a familiar claw to grab her fist. "Huh?!"

"...your name is actually mud." Shirou said as he suddenly had appeared, punching her in the stomach so hard, she skyrocketed towards Tantrum, hitting him right in the head and knocking him to his back, groaning from being knocked out cold. "Now, you'll stay down or I'll kill you." Yet another groan in response.

"Look, thanks for the save..." Michiru dusted herself off as Grimlock shook his head. "But where were you when I kept calling you?! That robot looked like a match for Grim' here!"

"Me Grimlock not lose to stupid Predacon!" He shook his claw before stepping forth. "Fake hero keep leaving action to me Grimlock instead."

"And what were you two doing in the first place?" He retorted. 

"I dunno, there was some shady deal going on between one of the staff here and some gang." Michiru exclaimed. "Then that crazy lioness from Rabbit Town showed up with her own...uh...what exactly is that?" She pointed to the still downed Tantrum.

"That Predacon." Grimlock instructed. "They Decepticons that me Grimlock talked about. They bad and stupid! Might be more..." He put a claw to his chin before a loud explosion erupted from the top of Sylvasta Pharmaceuticals. "Uh-oh! Sound like trouble!"

Shirou was already on the move, but the two followed him in close pursuit. "Wait for us! If we lose the hospital, I won't have a chance!"

"Yeah, and bad guys win!" The Dinobot added, though way behind the group, Tantrum and Elsa began to stir awake.

"It's too dangerous. You two stay behind just in case." Shirou argued.

Grimlock, of course, ignored him, but Michiru had a bit more of an efficient argument than the silent treatment/Leeroy Jenkins approach. "Then I'll admit it! I may have been born a human, but as of now, I'm a beastman." That caused Shirou to stop in his tracks, causing Grimlock to trip on his large feet and fall down.

"Me Grimlock okay!" He lifted a finger as he looked to them.

"What makes you say that?" Shirou was, for the moment, less annoyed and more curious.

"Well, you DID say you'd defend every beastman. And Grimlock technically counts too, considering he's...well, a beastman-robot, in all honesty." She knew that was kind of a fallacy, given his alien origins, but it still worked to her advantage. "So, by extension, you protect the both of us."

All Shirou did as he processed that was give a bit of a reluctant smirk. "The both of you are such pains in the ass." With that, he sped off. 

"That not a 'no'!" Grimlock chuckled as the two knuckleheads happily made their way...only for them to come across a ruined lab. How the heck Grimlock able to fit...remember. G1. Animation errors. The rest is history. "So much metal to much! Put it to good use!" He clamped his jaws around some ruined wiring, while the others investigated. As long as he stayed away from the epicenter of the bombing point.

However, he stopped when he heard from Shirou that there was no scent, therefore, he couldn't trace it. "No smell? Nose not know?" He asked. "Hmmm...come on, brain! Think!"

"Don't kill yourself, big guy." Yuji assured. "Leave it to the professionals."

"I'm still wondering why the heck anybody already working here would do this." Michiru commented. "Let's face it. Even in Anima City, there are such thing as insurance scams."

"Wait! Me know! Me know!" Grimlock ran over to Shirou and the others. "Me know why it not smell!" Before anybody could interrupt, he had already begun a rant. "Smells stick in air like Spike's dirty laundry! Dirty laundry becomes clean because bad smell is washed away! So, smell go away because it washed! But fish not like dirty laundry. Fish smell different! Fish are animals, so beastmen like fish! Special smell need special cleaning. So, maybe bad beastman put special cleaning thing to room and ALSO to bad beastman! So, we just look for beastman with no smell at all and..."

_**Several minutes later...** _

"And that's how me, fake hero, and Michy were able to solve the case!" Grimlock finished as the three of them (and Yuji) stood before the director of the place, Yaba. Despite the rhino-beastman being assured that this idiot could tell anything, his explanation, along with input from his two colleagues, was leading to him and his sweat-drenched ass knew it.

"That's...that's absurd...are you really comparing this AND us to dirty laundry and fish!?" Yaba yelled. "He's a savage brute!"

"And he's also...right." Shirou pressed fingers to his temples. "I need go lay down when this is over...but for now, I'll admit that that he's right about scents and such. There was a certain spot in the wreckage that had no smell. All beastmen have their own unique smells...and you seem to lack one." He glared at the now shaking Yaba's hands, which, indeed, had no scent. 

"Not to mention that shady doctor probably working with you that made a deal with that gang." Michiru added. 

"Hah! Me Grimlock genius! Me send bad guy to jail!" He edged towards the rhino-beastman. 

"Stand back, big guy. We'll take it from here." Yuji got ahead. "The smell here will be used as-"

SMASH! Tantrum and Elsa smashed through the floor, eyeing those before them. "Thought you were done with us?!" Tantrum snorted. "We're gonna turn you into iron filling when we're done with you!"

"You guys again? Leave us alone!" Grimlock roared as he and Shirou prepared to face them, only for Yaba to transform into his beastman form, ramming into the wolf-beastman and causing them to fall into the hole made by the Predacon and lioness. "Fake hero! That's it! Me Grimlock beat up all of the bad guys!"

"Can't you two find something else to-GACK!" Michiru's neck was suddenly wrapped around by the tail of the lanky one from earlier, Dr. Mimura, whom had revealed himself to be a chameleon beastman. 

"Nobody move!" He stopped everybody in the vicinity. "If anybody even tries to follow me, I'll kill her! I swear I will!"

"That's our decision to make, you creep!" Elsa roared, lunging at him, only for him to run up the stairs, dragging the Tanuki with him. "Tantrum! Deal with this idiot! I'm getting what's mine!" She followed, leaving the bull decepticon to face down Grimlock and Yuji, though the great dane managed to run past the mech. After all, Tantrum's main focus was on the Dinobot. 

"It's just you and me, Dino-dunce." Tantrum readied his charge. 

"Me Grimlock pummel you and save friend!" He roared before he had to catch those horns as they headed for him. His toe-claws dug into the ground beneath, nearly causing the floor to cave in. His claws strained as he tried to push back on the Predacon, so he breathed some fire on the ceiling above. The resulting rubble buried the bull somewhat, but he still made an effort to escape. "Me Grimlock no want to pay attention to stupid Predacon! Me Grimlock save Michy!" With that, he began to tear through the floors, ripping through the stairway to reach his buddies.

On the roof, Mimura was already confronted with not just the police force Yuji managed to call in, but also a rather angry-looking Elsa. "If any of you do a thing, I'll drop her and she's good as dead! Give me a helicopter and five-million yen! RIGHT NOW!" 

"You know we can't do that! We have you both outnumbered!" Yuji yelled 

"Don't lump me in with this creep!" Elsa roared. "I'm not gonna let him rid me of all I have left!"

The chameleon's eyes widened with terror and rage as he looked back to his hostage. "What? Sad that your plan is going up in smoke?" Michiru taunted.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT! If it weren't for you and your snooping ways, none of this would have happened!" He yelled back, backhanding an incoming Kuro to shut her up even further. "And that's for understimating my sight! Let's face it! Nothing you do will make me-"

Grimlock suddenly burst forth from the roof, jumping into the center and roaring. "Little wimp let Michy go or me Grimlock stomp you into paste!" 

"...okay, I can handle the inclusion of just one psychotic metal abomina-"

Again, Mimura's luck continued to run out when Tantrum, weilding his sword and in robot mode emerged even more violently. "I'll grind your gears into powder!" He snorted, eyes red with fury as he charged at Grimlock, slashing across his chest. 

"Gaaah! Me Grimlock need to save Michy...but first stop you!" He breathed a stream of flames that Tantrum cut through, slashing him across the snout before being tripped up by his tail.

All the while, Michiru was doing her best to think of a way to defuse this and fast. All that came to mind was her using her arms once more to stretch while Mimura and Elsa's attention were on the clash of the animalistic robots. 'C'mon...hopefully I have more control this-' With a mystic glow, her arms did as she wished to, surprising the two hostile beastmen and grabbing both of their heads, slamming them together. Mimura was knocked out, but Elsa was just dazed...and Michiru was sent hurtling down to a screaming drop.

"Nooooo!" Grimlock called out before jumping to avoid a slash from Tantrum and then breathing a stream of flames at his face, blinding his enemy for a while. " **GRIMLOCK _TRANSFORM!!!_** " He roared as he turned into robot mode and jumped down as well.

Elsa and a recovering Tantrum saw this and the lioness just gritted her teeth. "Oh no, you DON'T!" She roared before jumping off as well. "If I'm dying, I'm taking you with me!" The Predacon looked at Yuji, shrugged, and jumped off as well, sword at the ready.

Grimlock fell faster than the both of them, curling Michiru up in his arms. "Me Grimlock soften landing for friend!"

"But you'll be hurt too! You could die!" Michiru yelled in her panic before Elsa landed on Grimlock's head.

"Did you miss me?" She snarled before tackling her off, holding her in a chokehold. "This is it! My purpose may be gone, but at least I'll go out doing something for my master! Doing something that mattered! DON'T YOU JUST LOVE A HAPPY ENDING?!" The tanuki swore she saw tears in the lioness' eyes. 

Tantrum finally met up with Grimlock, punching at his face and preparing to stab his sword into his chest. "Say goodbye, Dino-dweeb!" 

"Me Grimlock say GOODNIGHT!" He grabbed Tantrum's blade, despite the cuts it gave his fingers, and shattered it within his fists before socking the robot across the face. As if that wasn't enough, Shirou had returned from his easy fight with Yaba, running along the side of the building and jumping on Tantrum as a platform, speeding up his fall. He pounced once more on Elsa, freeing Michiru from her grip, and kicking her further down where Tantrum was freefalling. 

With that, Grimlock looked upon Shirou as he held Michiru tightly to soften the fall. "Fake hero...not fake at all! Hey! Excuse me! Me Grimlock forgi-"

_**One unhappy landing much later...**_

All that came out of what inevitably happened was some property damage that Sylvasta thankfully didn't press charges for and Shirou having several broken ribs, as well as Grimlock having to stay in robot-mode with a sling attached to his arm. "Me Grimlock love lollipop!" He stated as he, Shirou, Kuro, and Michiru listened to Mayor Rose as she informed them of the whole embezzlement thing back at the Gem household.

"Though, there is the issue of the fact that the lioness and other robot seen during the crime have not been found. As if they vanished without a trace." Rose said, clearly unsure. "As if they were never there, despite how unsubtle they were in their approach."

"Yeah. Grimlock said that they were from a race of evil robots. Basically, two sides of some war that's been going on where they came from." Michiru answered. "But...in terms of those doctors...there was something off about that Mimura guy. The amount of hatred when he was cornered. I mean, he DID try to blow up his own lab just to save his own skin. Almost like adults have a bad habit of trying to destroy anything they can't control...or lock it up where it can't be found just to hide evidence...kinda pathetic if you ask me." She gave a bit of a glance towards Shirou, to which Grimlock chuckled at.

"Yeah, it reaaaal stupid." He nodded.

"Okay, but can you not?" Shirou groaned. "Look, I'm sorry. I promise not to lock you up anymore OR call any of you dumb."

Both Michiru and Grimlock's head came together as they gasped and stared him down. "Really?! You were such a pain about it earlier!" Michiru said in a mixture of joy/disbelief.

"I just don't want you to think I'm like any of those people. Just keep your beastman-itus to yourself and we're good." He simply said, to which the both of them nodded.

"Apology accepted, doggy hero!" Grimlock nodded especially quickly.

"My name is Ogami Shirou. Not 'doggy hero'." The wolf-beastman's eye twitched. 

"I think it's cute! But....yeah, kinda offensive, when you think about it." Michiru rubbed the back of her head before Rose gave an explanation about how she would help with looking into the genetics of the tanuki-girl's problem, having had a doctorate in that despite being a politician-that-actually-does-something.

"Even so...I can't shake off the feeling that there's something off about Sylvasta's property. Call it a hunch." Shirou added.

"Oooor...animal insticts?" Michiru giggled, nearly making Grimlock's spark stop. Even put some faint red color on his face-plate. He wasn't sure about that, but he and Rose both exchanged a look as the sporty girl and the wolf-beastman once again got into a verbal pissing match...and they joined gave a laugh. 

Suddenly, the recently repaired window of the Gem residence was shattered by the arrival of Swoop. "Hi, everybody! What did me Swoop miss?!"

"GINROU-DAMMIT, I JUST REPAIRED THAT!" Gem crowed before clearing his throat. "I mean...I really wish you hadn't done that."

_**Meanwhile in an undisclosed location...** _

Snarl woke up from his cell, angry as ever. It had taken SO many tranqs to his body for him to calm down, but he swore. One day, the humans would slip up and he would be free to unleash all of his wrath upon them. He was sick of being poked and prodded like an animal and now, he was gonna deal that pain back.

"Hey, Slag! Me Snarl have idea of how to make humans pa-" He stopped when he looked to the cell behind him. Slag was nowhere to be found in there. Just an empty cell and the sounds of...roaring and screaming from a floor below. Even the dull-minded robot Stegosaurus could hear it well. And despite his gruff antisocial personality, he hated every second of hearing his companion like that.

He paced around the cell, trying to drown it all out with roars and growls, but nothing worked. He finally settled for covering his audio-receptors while laying on his stomach, looking rather pathetic. He knew one thing was for sure. Whoever had put them in this place would pay. But first, he needed to do something he dreaded doing...

...plan...or pray for a miracle...

_**"THE TRANSFORMERS WILL RETURN AFTER THESE MESSAGES"** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With BNA getting an English dub, it was high time I got back to this fanfic. Just how I roll. Also, feedback would be nice as well. I know I don't update much, but I'm never truly dead.
> 
> Up Next: Grimlock goes on the warpath to find the perfect birthday gift, but first, he and the Dinobots (and Scorn) have to handle Nina's little escapade, though the robotic Spinosaurus obviously has a bone to pick with Grim. Meanwhile, Elsa and Tantrum get settled in Decepticon City, where Trypticon and Mary hatch a plan to get more residents.
> 
> (Also, I made an edit in which Grimlock's age is actually 20. Just two years above Michiru's canon age of 18. Remember. He was built young, compared to his Autobot peers)


End file.
